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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Francis Parkman</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 13, 2003 [eBook #6933]<br /> +[Most recently updated: May 2, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Ken Reeder, Cyrille Héloir and Robert Homa</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JESUITS IN NORTH AMERICA ***</div> + +<div class="titlepage quad-space-top"> + <h1 id="id00006">The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century</h1> + <h2 id="id00007">by Francis Parkman</h2> + <p class="noindent double-space-top"> + France and England<br /> in North America + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + A Series<br /> of Historical Narratives + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + Part Second<br /> + </p> + <p class="double-space-top center small"> + BOSTON:<br /> + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.<br /> + 1867.<br /> + </p> + + <hr class="main" /> + <p class="quad-space-top center small"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">ii</a></span> + Entered According to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by <br /> + <span class="smcap">Francis Parkman,</span><br /> + In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. + <br /><br /> + CAMBRIDGE:<br /> + STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON. +</p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Preface" id="Preface"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">v</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2><a href="#Contents">PREFACE.</a><br /> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00022"> +<span class="smcap">Few</span> passages of history are more striking +than those which record the efforts of the earlier French Jesuits to +convert the Indians. Full as they are of dramatic and philosophic +interest, bearing strongly on the political destinies of America, +and closely involved with the history of its native population, it +is wonderful that they have been left so long in obscurity. While +the infant colonies of England still clung feebly to the shores of +the Atlantic, events deeply ominous to their future were in +progress, unknown to them, in the very heart of the continent. It will +be seen, in the sequel of this volume, that civil and religious liberty +found strange allies in this Western World.</p> + +<p id="id00023"> +The sources of information concerning the early Jesuits of New France are +very copious. During a period of forty years, the Superior of the +Mission +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">vi</a></span> +sent, every summer, long and detailed reports, embodying or +accompanied by the reports of his subordinates, to the Provincial of the +Order at Paris, where they were annually published, in duodecimo volumes, +forming the remarkable series known as the Jesuit <i>Relations</i>. +Though the productions of men of scholastic training, they are simple +and often crude in style, as might be expected of narratives hastily +written in Indian lodges or rude mission-houses in the forest, amid +annoyances and interruptions of all kinds. In respect to the value +of their contents, they are exceedingly unequal. Modest records of +marvellous adventures and sacrifices, and vivid pictures of forest-life, +alternate with prolix and monotonous details of the conversion of +individual savages, and the praiseworthy deportment of some exemplary +neophyte. With regard to the condition and character of the primitive +inhabitants of North America, it is impossible to exaggerate their +value as an authority. I should add, that the closest examination has +left me no doubt that these missionaries wrote in perfect good faith, +and that the <i>Relations</i> hold a high place as authentic and +trustworthy historical documents. They are very scarce, and no +complete collection of them exists in America. The entire series +was, however, republished, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">vii</a></span> +in 1858, by the Canadian government, in three +large octavo volumes. +<a href="#footer_P-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00024" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_P-1" name="footer_P-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Both editions—the old and the new—are cited in the + following pages. Where the reference is to the old edition, it + is indicated by the name of the publisher (Cramoisy), appended + to the citation, in brackets.</p> + <p id="id00025"> + In extracts given in the notes, the antiquated orthography and + accentuation are preserved. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00026"> +These form but a part of the surviving writings of the French-American +Jesuits. Many additional reports, memoirs, journals, and letters, +official and private, have come down to us; some of which have recently +been printed, while others remain in manuscript. Nearly every prominent +actor in the scenes to be described has left his own record of events in +which he bore part, in the shape of reports to his Superiors or letters +to his friends. I have studied and compared these authorities, as well +as a great mass of collateral evidence, with more than usual care, +striving to secure the greatest possible accuracy of statement, and to +reproduce an image of the past with photographic clearness and truth.</p> + +<p id="id00027"> +The introductory chapter of the volume is independent of the rest; but a +knowledge of the facts set forth in it is essential to the full +understanding of the narrative which follows.</p> + +<p id="id00028"> +In the collection of material, I have received +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">viii</a></span> +valuable aid from +Mr. J. G. Shea, Rev. Felix Martin, S.J., the Abbés +Laverdière and H. R. Casgrain, Dr. J. C. Taché, +and the late Jacques Viger, Esq. +</p> + +<p id="id00029"> +I propose to devote the next volume of this series to the discovery and +occupation by the French of the Valley of the Mississippi. +</p> + +<p class="right" id="id00030"> + <span class="smcap">Boston</span>, <i>1st May, 1867</i> +</p> + + +<hr class="main" /> + +<div class="contents"> + <a id="Contents" name="Contents"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">ix</a></span> + <h2>Contents</h2> +</div> + + <p class="smcapheader"> + The Jesuits in North America + </p> + <p class="noindent"><a href="#Preface">PREFACE.</a></p> + <p class="noindent"><a href="#Chapter_0">INTRODUCTION.</a></p> + <p class="noindent">NATIVE TRIBES.</p> + <p class="topics"> + Divisions • The Algonquins • + The Hurons • Their Houses • + Fortifications • Habits • Arts • + Women • Trade • Festivities • + Medicine • The Tobacco Nation • + The Neutrals • The Eries • The Andastes • + The Iroquois • Indian Social and Political Organization • + Iroquois Institutions, Customs, and Character • + Indian Religion and Superstitions • The Indian Mind + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents1" name="Contents1"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_1">CHAPTER I.</a> 1634. + </p> + <p class="noindent">NOTRE-DAME DES ANGES.</p> + <p class="topics"> + Quebec in 1634 • Father Le Jeune • + The Mission-House • Its Domestic Economy • + The Jesuits and their Designs + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents2" name="Contents2"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_2">CHAPTER II. </a> + </p> + <p class="noindent">LOYOLA AND THE JESUITS.</p> + <p class="topics"> + Conversion of Loyola • + Foundation of the Society of Jesus • + Preparation of the Novice • + Characteristics of the Order • + The Canadian Jesuits + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents3" name="Contents3"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_3">CHAPTER III.</a> 1632, 1633. + </p> + <p class="noindent">PAUL LE JEUNE.</p> + <p class="topics"> + Le Jeune's Voyage • His First Pupils • + His Studies • His Indian Teacher • + Winter at the Mission-House • Le Jeune's School • + Reinforcements + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents4" name="Contents4"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">x</a></span> + <a href="#Chapter_4">CHAPTER IV.</a> 1633, 1634. + </p> + <p class="noindent">LE JEUNE AND THE HUNTERS.</p> + <p class="topics"> + Le Jeune joins the Indians • The First Encampment • + The Apostate • Forest Life in Winter • + The Indian Hut • The Sorcerer • + His Persecution of the Priest • Evil Company • + Magic • Incantations • Christmas • + Starvation • Hopes of Conversion • + Backsliding • Peril and Escape of Le Jeune • + His Return + </p> + <p id="id00050" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents5" name="Contents5"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_5">CHAPTER V.</a> 1633, 1634. + </p> + <p id="id00051" class="noindent">THE HURON MISSION.</p> + <p id="id00052" class="topics"> + Plans of Conversion • Aims and Motives • + Indian Diplomacy • Hurons at Quebec • + Councils • The Jesuit Chapel • + Le Borgne • The Jesuits + <ins title="Capitalize Thwarted to match the topic list at the top of Chapter V."> + T</ins>hwarted • + Their Perseverance • The Journey to the Hurons • + Jean de Brébeuf • The Mission + <ins title="Capitalize Begun to match the topic list at the top of Chapter V."> + B</ins>egun + </p> + + <p id="id00054" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents6" name="Contents6"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_6">CHAPTER VI.</a> 1634, 1635. + </p> + <p id="id00055" class="noindent">BRÉBEUF AND HIS ASSOCIATES.</p> + <p id="id00056" class="topics"> + The Huron Mission-House • Its Inmates • + Its Furniture • Its Guests • + The Jesuit as a Teacher • As an Engineer • + Baptisms • Huron Village Life • + Festivities and Sorceries • The Dream Feast • + The Priests accused of Magic • + The Drought and the Red Cross + </p> + + <p id="id00058" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents7" name="Contents7"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_7">CHAPTER VII.</a> 1636, 1637. + </p> + <p id="id00059" class="noindent">THE FEAST OF THE DEAD.</p> + <p id="id00060" class="topics"> + Huron Graves • Preparation for the Ceremony • + Disinterment • The Mourning • The Funeral March • + The Great Sepulchre • Funeral Games • + Encampment of the Mourners • Gifts • Harangues • + Frenzy of the Crowd • The Closing Scene • + Another Rite • The Captive Iroquois • + The Sacrifice. + </p> + + <p id="id00061" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents8" name="Contents8"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">xi</a></span> + <a href="#Chapter_8">CHAPTER VIII.</a> 1636, 1637. + </p> + <p id="id00062" class="noindent">THE HURON AND THE JESUIT.</p> + <p id="id00063" class="topics"> + Enthusiasm for the Mission • Sickness of the Priests • + The Pest among the Hurons • The Jesuit on his Rounds • + Efforts at Conversion • Priests and Sorcerers • + The Man-Devil • The Magician's Prescription • + Indian Doctors and Patients • Covert Baptisms • + Self-Devotion of the Jesuits + </p> + + + <p id="id00066" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents9" name="Contents9"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_9">CHAPTER IX.</a> 1637. + </p> + <p id="id00067" class="noindent">CHARACTER OF THE CANADIAN JESUITS.</p> + <p id="id00068" class="topics"> + Jean de Brébeuf • Charles Garnier • + Joseph Marie Chaumonot • Noël Chabanel • + Isaac Jogues • Other Jesuits • + Nature of their Faith • Supernaturalism • + Visions • Miracles + </p> + + <p id="id00070" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents10" name="Contents10"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_10">CHAPTER X.</a> 1637-1640. + </p> + <p id="id00071" class="noindent">PERSECUTION.</p> + <p id="id00072" class="topics"> + Ossossané • The New Chapel • + A Triumph of the Faith • The Nether Powers • + Signs of a Tempest • Slanders • + Rage against the Jesuits • + Their Boldness and Persistency • Nocturnal Council • + Danger of the Priests • Brébeuf's Letter • + Narrow Escapes • Woes and Consolations + </p> + + <p id="id00073" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents11" name="Contents11"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_11">CHAPTER XI.</a> 1638-1640. + </p> + <p id="id00074" class="noindent">PRIEST AND PAGAN.</p> + <p id="id00075" class="topics"> + Du Peron's Journey • Daily Life of the Jesuits • + Their Missionary Excursions • + Converts at Ossossané • + Machinery of Conversion • Conditions of Baptism • + Backsliders • The Converts and their Countrymen • + The Cannibals at St. Joseph + </p> + + <p id="id00076" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents12" name="Contents12"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">xii</a></span> + <a href="#Chapter_12">CHAPTER XII.</a> 1639, 1640. + </p> + <p id="id00077" class="noindent">THE TOBACCO NATION—THE NEUTRALS.</p> + <p id="id00078" class="topics"> + A Change of Plan • Sainte Marie • + Mission of the Tobacco Nation • + Winter Journeying • Reception of the Missionaries • + Superstitious Terrors • Peril of Garnier and Jogues • + Mission of the Neutrals • Huron Intrigues • + Miracles • Fury of the Indians • + Intervention of Saint Michael • Return to Sainte Marie • + Intrepidity of the Priests • Their Mental Exaltation + </p> + + <p id="id00082" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents13" name="Contents13"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_13">CHAPTER XIII.</a> 1636-1646. + </p> + <p id="id00083" class="noindent">QUEBEC AND ITS TENANTS.</p> + <p id="id00084" class="topics"> + The New Governor • Edifying Examples • + Le Jeune's Correspondents • Rank and Devotion • + Nuns • Priestly Authority • Condition of Quebec • + The Hundred Associates • Church Discipline • + Plays • Fireworks • Processions • + Catechizing • Terrorism • Pictures • + The Converts • The Society of Jesus • + The Foresters + </p> + + <p id="id00086" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents14" name="Contents14"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_14">CHAPTER XIV.</a> 1636-1652. + </p> + <p id="id00087" class="noindent">DEVOTEES AND NUNS.</p> + <p id="id00088" class="topics"> + The Huron Seminary • Madame de la Peltrie • + Her Pious Schemes • Her Sham Marriage • + She visits the Ursulines of Tours • + Marie de Saint Bernard • Marie de l'Incarnation • + Her Enthusiasm • Her Mystical Marriage • + Her Dejection • Her Mental Conflicts • + Her Vision • Made Superior of the Ursulines • + The Hôtel-Dieu • The Voyage to Canada • + Sillery • Labors and Sufferings of the Nuns • + Character of Marie de l'Incarnation • + Of Madame de la Peltrie + </p> + + <p id="id00090" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents15" name="Contents15"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_15">CHAPTER XV.</a> 1636-1642. + </p> + <p id="id00091" class="noindent">VILLEMARIE DE MONTREAL.</p> + <p id="id00092" class="topics"> + Dauversiére and the Voice from Heaven • + Abbé Olier • Their Schemes • + The Society of Notre-Dame de Montreal • + Maisonneuve • + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">xiii</a></span> + Devout Ladies • + Mademoiselle Mance • Marguerite Bourgeoys • + The Montrealists at Quebec • Jealousy • + Quarrels • Romance and Devotion • Embarkation • + Foundation of Montreal + </p> + + <p id="id00095" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents16" name="Contents16"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_16">CHAPTER XVI.</a> 1641-1644. + </p> + <p id="id00096" class="noindent">ISAAC JOGUES.</p> + <p id="id00097" class="topics"> + The Iroquois War • Jogues • + His Capture • His Journey to the Mohawks • + Lake George • The Mohawk Towns • + The Missionary + <ins title="Capitalize Tortured to match the topic list at the top of Chapter XVI."> + T</ins>ortured • Death of Goupil • + Misery of Jogues • The Mohawk "Babylon" • + Fort Orange • Escape of Jogues • + Manhattan • The Voyage to France • + Jogues among his Brethren • He returns to Canada + </p> + + <p id="id00099" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents17" name="Contents17"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_17">CHAPTER XVII.</a> 1641-1646. + </p> + <p id="id00100" class="noindent">THE IROQUOIS—BRESSANI—DE NOUË.</p> + <p id="id00101" class="topics"> + War • Distress and Terror • Richelieu • + Battle • Ruin of Indian Tribes • + Mutual Destruction • Iroquois and Algonquin • + Atrocities • Frightful Position of the French • + Joseph Bressani • His Capture • + His Treatment • His Escape • + Anne de Nouë • His Nocturnal Journey • + His Death + </p> + + <p id="id00102" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents18" name="Contents18"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_18">CHAPTER XVIII.</a> 1642-1644. + </p> + <p id="id00103" class="noindent">VILLEMARIE.</p> + <p id="id00104" class="topics"> + Infancy of Montreal • The Flood • + Vow of Maisonneuve • Pilgrimage • + D'Ailleboust • The Hôtel-Dieu • Piety • + Propagandism • War • Hurons and Iroquois • + Dogs • Sally of the French • Battle • + Exploit of Maisonneuve + </p> + + <p id="id00106" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents19" name="Contents19"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_19">CHAPTER XIX.</a> 1644, 1645. + </p> + <p id="id00107" class="noindent">PEACE.</p> + <p id="id00108" class="topics"> + Iroquois Prisoners • Piskaret • His Exploits • + More Prisoners • Iroquois Embassy • The Orator • + The Great Council • Speeches of Kiotsaton • + Muster of Savages • Peace + <ins title="Capitalize confirmed to match the topic list at the top of Chapter XIX."> + C</ins>onfirmed + </p> + + <p id="id00110" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents20" name="Contents20"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">xiv</a></span> + <a href="#Chapter_20">CHAPTER XX.</a> 1645, 1646. + </p> + <p id="id00111" class="noindent">THE PEACE BROKEN.</p> + <p id="id00112" class="topics"> + Uncertainties • The Mission of Jogues • + He reaches the Mohawks • His Reception • + His Return • His Second Mission • + Warnings of Danger • Rage of the Mohawks • + Murder of Jogues + </p> + + <p id="id00114" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents21" name="Contents21"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_21">CHAPTER XXI.</a> 1646, 1647. + </p> + <p id="id00115" class="noindent">ANOTHER WAR.</p> + <p id="id00116" class="topics"> + Mohawk Inroads • The Hunters of Men • + The Captive Converts • The Escape of Marie • + Her Story • The Algonquin Prisoner's Revenge • + Her Flight • Terror of the Colonists • + Jesuit Intrepidity + </p> + + <p id="id00118" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents22" name="Contents22"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_22">CHAPTER XXII.</a> 1645-1651. + </p> + <p id="id00119" class="noindent">PRIEST AND PURITAN.</p> + <p id="id00120" class="topics"> + Miscou • Tadoussac • Journeys of De Quen • + Druilletes • His Winter with the Montagnais • + Influence of the Missions • The Abenaquis • + Druilletes on the Kennebec • His Embassy to Boston • + Gibbons • Dudley • Bradford • Eliot • + Endicott • French and Puritan Colonization • + Failure of Druilletes's Embassy • New Regulations • + New-Year's Day at Quebec. + </p> + + <p id="id00122" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents23" name="Contents23"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_23">CHAPTER XXIII.</a> 1645-1648. + </p> + <p id="id00123" class="noindent">A DOOMED NATION.</p> + <p id="id00124" class="topics"> + Indian Infatuation • Iroquois and Huron • + Huron Triumphs • The Captive Iroquois • + His Ferocity and Fortitude • Partisan Exploits • + Diplomacy • The Andastes • The Huron Embassy • + New Negotiations • The Iroquois Ambassador • + His Suicide • Iroquois Honor + </p> + + <p id="id00126" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents24" name="Contents24"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">xv</a></span> + <a href="#Chapter_24">CHAPTER XXIV.</a> 1645-1648. + </p> + <p id="id00127" class="noindent">THE HURON CHURCH.</p> + <p id="id00128" class="topics"> + Hopes of the Mission • Christian and Heathen • + Body and Soul • Position of Proselytes • + The Huron Girl's Visit to Heaven • + A Crisis • Huron Justice • + Murder and Atonement • Hopes and Fears + </p> + + <p id="id00129" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents25" name="Contents25"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_25">CHAPTER XXV.</a> 1648, 1649. + </p> + <p id="id00130" class="noindent">SAINTE MARIE.</p> + <p id="id00131" class="topics"> + The Centre of the Missions • Fort • Convent • + Hospital • Caravansary • Church • + The Inmates of Sainte Marie • Domestic Economy • + Missions • A Meeting of Jesuits • The Dead Missionary + </p> + + <p id="id00134" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents26" name="Contents26"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_26">CHAPTER XXVI.</a> 1648. + </p> + <p id="id00135" class="noindent">ANTOINE DANIEL.</p> + <p id="id00136" class="topics"> + Huron Traders • Battle at Three Rivers • + St. Joseph • Onset of the Iroquois • + Death of Daniel • The Town + <ins title="Capitalize Detroyed to match the topic list at the top of Chapter XXVI."> + D</ins>estroyed + </p> + + <p id="id00138" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents27" name="Contents27"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_27">CHAPTER XXVII.</a> 1649. + </p> + <p id="id00139" class="noindent">RUIN OF THE HURONS.</p> + <p id="id00140" class="topics"> + St. Louis on Fire • Invasion • + St. Ignace captured • Brébeuf and Lalemant • + Battle at St. Louis • Sainte Marie threatened • + Renewed Fighting • Desperate Conflict • + A Night of Suspense • Panic among the Victors • + Burning of St. Ignace • Retreat of the Iroquois + </p> + + <p id="id00142" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents28" name="Contents28"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_28">CHAPTER XXVIII.</a> 1649. + </p> + <p id="id00143" class="noindent">THE MARTYRS.</p> + <p id="id00144" class="topics"> + The Ruins of St. Ignace • The Relics found • + Brébeuf at the Stake • His Unconquerable Fortitude • + Lalemant • Renegade + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">xvi</a></span> + Hurons • Iroquois Atrocities • + Death of Brébeuf • His Character • + Death of Lalemant + </p> + + <p id="id00146" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents29" name="Contents29"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_29">CHAPTER XXIX.</a> 1649, 1650. + </p> + <p id="id00147" class="noindent">THE SANCTUARY.</p> + <p id="id00148" class="topics"> + Dispersion of the Hurons • Sainte Marie abandoned • + Isle St. Joseph • Removal of the Mission • + The New Fort • Misery of the Hurons • + Famine • Epidemic • Employments of the Jesuits + </p> + + <p id="id00149" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents30" name="Contents30"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_30">CHAPTER XXX.</a> 1649. + </p> + <p id="id00150" class="noindent">GARNIER—CHABANEL.</p> + <p id="id00151" class="topics"> + The Tobacco Missions • St. Jean attacked • + Death of Garnier • The Journey of Chabanel • + His Death • Garreau and Grelon. + </p> + + <p id="id00154" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents31" name="Contents31"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_31">CHAPTER XXXI.</a> 1650-1652. + </p> + <p id="id00155" class="noindent">THE HURON MISSION ABANDONED.</p> + <p id="id00156" class="topics"> + Famine and the Tomahawk • A New Asylum • + Voyage of the Refugees to Quebec • + Meeting with Bressani • + Desperate Courage of the Iroquois • + Inroads and Battles • Death of Buteux + </p> + + <p id="id00158" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents32" name="Contents32"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_32">CHAPTER XXXII.</a> 1650-1866. + </p> + <p id="id00159" class="noindent">THE LAST OF THE HURONS.</p> + <p id="id00160" class="topics"> + Fate of the Vanquished • + The Refugees of St. Jean Baptiste and St. Michel • + The Tobacco Nation and its Wanderings • + The Modern Wyandots • The Biter Bit • + The Hurons at Quebec • Notre-Dame de Lorette. + </p> + + <p id="id00162" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents33" name="Contents33"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">xvii</a></span> + <a href="#Chapter_33">CHAPTER XXXIII.</a> 1650-1670. + </p> + <p id="id00163" class="noindent">THE DESTROYERS.</p> + <p id="id00164" class="topics"> + Iroquois Ambition • Its Victims • + The Fate of the Neutrals • The Fate of the Eries • + The War with the Andastes • Supremacy of the Iroquois + </p> + + <p id="id00166" class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents34" name="Contents34"></a> + <a href="#Chapter_34">CHAPTER XXXIV.</a> + </p> + <p id="id00167" class="noindent">THE END.</p> + <p id="id00168" class="topics"> + Failure of the Jesuits • + What their Success would have involved • + Future of the Mission + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents35" name="Contents35"></a> + <a href="#Index">INDEX.</a> + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="Contents36" name="Contents36"></a> + <a href="#Appendix">APPENDIX.</a> + </p> + +<hr class="main" /> + +<div class="chapterhead"> + <p> + <br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">xviii</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="title-author xl"> + The Jesuits in North America<br /> + in the Seventeenth Century + </p> + <p class="title-author lg"> + by Francis Parkman + </p> + <br /><br /> + <hr class="tiny" /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix">xix</a></span> + <br /><a name="Chapter_0" id="Chapter_0"></a> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2 id="id00169"><a href="#Contents">INTRODUCTION.</a><br /> + </h2> + <p id="id00170" class="smcapheader">NATIVE TRIBES.</p> + <p id="id00171" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Divisions • The Algonquins • + The Hurons • Their Houses • + Fortifications • Habits • Arts • + Women • Trade • Festivities • + Medicine • The Tobacco Nation • + The Neutrals • The Eries • The Andastes • + The Iroquois • + <ins title="Add Indian before Social and Political Org to match the topic list in the Contents."> + Indian</ins> + Social and Political Organization • + Iroquois Institutions, Customs, and Character • + Indian Religion and Superstitions • The Indian Mind + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00172"> +<span class="smcap">America</span>, when it became known to Europeans, +was, as it had long been, a scene of wide-spread revolution. North and +South, tribe was giving place to tribe, language to language; for the +Indian, hopelessly unchanging in respect to individual and social +development, was, as regarded tribal relations and local haunts, +mutable as the wind. In Canada and the northern section of the +United States, the elements of change were especially active. The +Indian population which, in 1535, Cartier found at Montreal and +Quebec, had disappeared at the opening of the next century, and +another race had succeeded, in language and customs widely different; +while, in the region now forming the State of New York, a power was +rising to a ferocious vitality, which, but for the presence +of Europeans, would probably have subjected, absorbed, or exterminated +every other Indian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xx" id="Page_xx">xx</a></span> +community east of the Mississippi and north of the +Ohio.</p> + +<p id="id00173"> +The vast tract of wilderness from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, +and from the Carolinas to Hudson's Bay, was divided between two great +families of tribes, distinguished by a radical difference of language. +A part of Virginia and of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Southeastern New York, +New England, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Lower Canada were occupied, +so far as occupied at all, by tribes speaking various Algonquin languages +and dialects. They extended, moreover, along the shores of the Upper +Lakes, and into the dreary Northern wastes beyond. They held Wisconsin, +Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana, and detached bands ranged the lonely +hunting-ground of Kentucky. +<a href="#footer_0-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00174" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-1" name="footer_0-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + The word <i>Algonquin</i> is here used in its broadest + signification. It was originally applied to a group of + tribes north of the River St. Lawrence. The difference + of language between the original Algonquins and the + Abenaquis of New England, the Ojibwas of the Great Lakes, + or the Illinois of the West, corresponded to the + difference between French and Italian, or Italian and + Spanish. Each of these languages, again, had its dialects, + like those of different provinces of France. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00175"> +Like a great island in the midst of the Algonquins lay the country of +tribes speaking the generic tongue of the Iroquois. The true Iroquois, +or Five Nations, extended through Central New York, from the Hudson to +the Genesee. Southward lay the Andastes, on and near the Susquehanna; +westward, the Eries, along the southern shore of Lake Erie, and the +Neutral Nation, along its northern shore from Niagara towards the +Detroit; while the towns of the Hurons lay near the lake to which they +have left their name. +<a href="#footer_0-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00176" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-2" name="footer_0-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + To the above general statements there was, in the first half + of the seventeenth century, but one exception worth notice. + A detached branch of the Dahcotah stock, the Winnebago, was + established south of Green Bay, on Lake Michigan, in the midst + of Algonquins; and small Dahcotah bands had also planted + themselves on the eastern side of the Mississippi, nearly in + the same latitude.</p> + <p id="id00177"> + There was another branch of the Iroquois in the Carolinas, + consisting of the Tuscaroras and kindred bands. In 1715 they + were joined to the Five Nations. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00178"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxi" id="Page_xxi">xxi</a></span> +Of the Algonquin populations, the densest, despite a recent epidemic +which had swept them off by thousands, was in New England. Here were +Mohicans, Pequots, Narragansetts, Wampanoags, Massachusetts, Penacooks, +thorns in the side of the Puritan. On the whole, these savages were +favorable specimens of the Algonquin stock, belonging to that section of +it which tilled the soil, and was thus in some measure spared the +extremes of misery and degradation to which the wandering hunter tribes +were often reduced. They owed much, also, to the bounty of the sea, +and hence they tended towards the coast; which, before the epidemic, +Champlain and Smith had seen at many points studded with wigwams and +waving with harvests of maize. Fear, too, drove them eastward; for the +Iroquois pursued them with an inveterate enmity. Some paid yearly +tribute to their tyrants, while others were still subject to their +inroads, flying in terror at the sound of the Mohawk war-cry. Westward, +the population thinned rapidly; northward, it soon disappeared. Northern +New Hampshire, the whole of Vermont, and Western Massachusetts had no +human tenants but the roving hunter or prowling warrior.</p> + +<p id="id00179"> +We have said that this group of tribes was relatively very populous; yet +it is more than doubtful whether all of them united, had union been +possible, could have mustered eight thousand fighting men. To speak +further of them is needless, for they were not within the scope of the +Jesuit labors. The heresy of heresies had planted itself among them; and +it was for the apostle Eliot, not the Jesuit, to essay their conversion. +<a href="#footer_0-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00180" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-3" name="footer_0-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + These Indians, the Armouchiquois of the old French writers, were in a + state of chronic war with the tribes of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. + Champlain, on his voyage of 1603, heard strange accounts of them. + The following is literally rendered from the first narrative of that + heroic, but credulous explorer.</p> + <p id="id00181"> + "They are savages of shape altogether monstrous: for their heads are + small, their bodies short, and their arms thin as a skeleton, as are also + their thighs; but their legs are stout and long, and all of one size, and, + when they are seated on their heels, their knees rise more than half a + foot above their heads, which seems a thing strange and against Nature. + Nevertheless, they are active and bold, and they have the best country on + all the coast towards Acadia."—<i>Des Sauvages</i>, f. 34.</p> + <p id="id00182"> + This story may match that of the great city of Norembega, on the + Penobscot, with its population of dwarfs, as related by Jean Alphonse.<br/> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00183"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxii" id="Page_xxii">xxii</a></span> +Landing at Boston, three years before a solitude, let the traveller push +northward, pass the River Piscataqua and the Penacooks, and cross the +River Saco. Here, a change of dialect would indicate a different tribe, +or group of tribes. These were the Abenaquis, found chiefly along the +course of the Kennebec and other rivers, on whose banks they raised their +rude harvests, and whose streams they ascended to hunt the moose and bear +in the forest desert of Northern Maine, or descended to fish in the +neighboring sea. +<a href="#footer_0-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00184" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-4" name="footer_0-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + The Tarratines of New-England writers were the Abenaquis, or a portion + of them.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00185"> +Crossing the Penobscot, one found a visible descent in the scale of +humanity. Eastern Maine and the whole of New Brunswick were occupied by +a race called Etchemins, to whom agriculture was unknown, though the sea, +prolific of fish, lobsters, and seals, greatly lightened their miseries. +The Souriquois, or Micmacs, of Nova Scotia, closely resembled them in +habits and condition. From Nova Scotia to the St. Lawrence, there was no +population worthy of the name. From the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Lake +Ontario, the southern border of the great river had no tenants but +hunters. Northward, between the St. Lawrence and Hudson's Bay, roamed +the scattered hordes of the Papinachois, Bersiamites, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxiii" id="Page_xxiii">xxiii</a></span> +and others, +included by the French under the general name of Montagnais. When, +in spring, the French trading-ships arrived and anchored in the port of +Tadoussac, they gathered from far and near, toiling painfully through the +desolation of forests, mustering by hundreds at the point of traffic, +and setting up their bark wigwams along the strand of that wild harbor. +They were of the lowest Algonquin type. Their ordinary sustenance was +derived from the chase; though often, goaded by deadly famine, they would +subsist on roots, the bark and buds of trees, or the foulest offal; and +in extremity, even cannibalism was not rare among them.</p> + +<p id="id00186"> +Ascending the St. Lawrence, it was seldom that the sight of a human form +gave relief to the loneliness, until, at Quebec, the roar of Champlain's +cannon from the verge of the cliff announced that the savage prologue of +the American drama was drawing to a close, and that the civilization of +Europe was advancing on the scene. Ascending farther, all was solitude, +except at Three Rivers, a noted place of trade, where a few Algonquins of +the tribe called Atticamegues might possibly be seen. The fear of the +Iroquois was everywhere; and as the voyager passed some wooded point, +or thicket-covered island, the whistling of a stone-headed arrow +proclaimed, perhaps, the presence of these fierce marauders. At Montreal +there was no human life, save during a brief space in early summer, +when the shore swarmed with savages, who had come to the yearly trade +from the great communities of the interior. To-day there were dances, +songs, and feastings; to-morrow all again was solitude, and the Ottawa +was covered with the canoes of the returning warriors.</p> + +<p id="id00187"> +Along this stream, a main route of traffic, the silence +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxiv" id="Page_xxiv">xxiv</a></span> +of the wilderness +was broken only by the splash of the passing paddle. To the north of the +river there was indeed a small Algonquin band, called <i>La Petite Nation</i>, +together with one or two other feeble communities; but they dwelt far +from the banks, through fear of the ubiquitous Iroquois. It was nearly +three hundred miles, by the windings of the stream, before one reached +that Algonquin tribe, <i>La Nation de l'Isle</i>, who occupied the great island +of the Allumettes. Then, after many a day of lonely travel, the voyager +found a savage welcome among the Nipissings, on the lake which bears +their name; and then circling west and south for a hundred and fifty +miles of solitude, he reached for the first time a people speaking a +dialect of the Iroquois tongue. Here all was changed. Populous towns, +rude fortifications, and an extensive, though barbarous tillage, +indicated a people far in advance of the famished wanderers of the +Saguenay, or their less abject kindred of New England. These were the +Hurons, of whom the modern Wyandots are a remnant. Both in themselves +and as a type of their generic stock they demand more than a passing +notice. +<a href="#footer_0-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00188" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-5" name="footer_0-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + The usual confusion of Indian tribal names prevails in the case of the + Hurons. The following are their synonymes:—</p> + <p id="id00189"> + Hurons (of French origin); Ochateguins (Champlain); Attigouantans (the + name of one of their tribes, used by Champlain for the whole nation); + Ouendat (their true name, according to Lalemant); Yendat, Wyandot, + Guyandot (corruptions of the preceding); Ouaouakecinatouek (Potier), + Quatogies (Colden). <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p><br /></p> +<h3 class="double-space-top" id="id00190">THE HURONS.</h3> + +<p id="id00191"> +<span class="smcap">More</span> than two centuries have elapsed since +the Hurons vanished from their ancient seats, and the settlers of this +rude solitude stand perplexed and wondering over the relics of a lost +people. In the damp shadow of what +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxv" id="Page_xxv">xxv</a></span> +seems a virgin forest, the axe and plough bring strange secrets to light: +huge pits, close packed with skeletons and disjointed bones, mixed with +weapons, copper kettles, beads, and trinkets. Not even the straggling +Algonquins, who linger about the scene of Huron prosperity, can tell +their origin. Yet, on ancient worm-eaten pages, between covers of +begrimed parchment, the daily life of this ruined community, its +firesides, its festivals, its funeral rites, are painted with a minute +and vivid fidelity.</p> + +<p id="id00192"> +The ancient country of the Hurons is now the northern and eastern portion +of Simcoe County, Canada West, and is embraced within the peninsula +formed by the Nottawassaga and Matchedash Bays of Lake Huron, the River +Severn, and Lake Simcoe. Its area was small,—its population +comparatively large. In the year 1639 the Jesuits made an enumeration of +all its villages, dwellings, and families. The result showed thirty-two +villages and hamlets, with seven hundred dwellings, about four thousand +families, and twelve thousand adult persons, or a total population of at +least twenty thousand. +<a href="#footer_0-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00193" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-6" name="footer_0-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1640</i>, 38 (Cramoisy). + His words are, "de feux enuiron deux mille, et enuiron + douze mille personnes." There were two families to every + fire. That by "personnes" adults only are meant cannot be + doubted, as the <i>Relations</i> abound in incidental evidence + of a total population far exceeding twelve thousand. A + Huron family usually numbered from five to eight persons. + The number of the Huron towns changed from year to year. + Champlain and Le Caron, in 1615, reckoned them at seventeen + or eighteen, with a population of about ten thousand, + meaning, no doubt, adults. Brébeuf, in 1635, found + twenty villages, and, as he thinks, thirty thousand souls. + Both Le Mercier and De Quen, as well as Dollier de Casson + and the anonymous author of the <i>Relation</i> of 1660, + state the population at from thirty to thirty-five + thousand. Since the time of Champlain's visit, various + kindred tribes or fragments of tribes had been incorporated + with the Hurons, thus more than balancing the ravages of a + pestilence which had decimated them. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00194"> +The region whose boundaries we have given was an alternation of meadows +and deep forests, interlaced with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxvi" id="Page_xxvi">xxvi</a></span> +footpaths leading from town to town. +Of these towns, some were fortified, but the greater number were open and +defenceless. They were of a construction common to all tribes of +Iroquois lineage, and peculiar to them. Nothing similar exists at the +present day. +<a href="#footer_0-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +They covered a space of from +one to ten acres, the dwellings clustering together with little or no +pretension to order. In general, these singular structures were about +thirty or thirty-five feet in length, breadth, and height; but many were +much larger, and a few were of prodigious length. In some of the +villages there were dwellings two hundred and forty feet long, though in +breadth and height they did not much exceed the others. +<a href="#footer_0-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> + In shape they were much like an +arbor overarching a garden-walk. Their frame was of tall and strong +saplings, planted in a double row to form the two sides of the house, +bent till they met, and lashed together at the top. To these other poles +were bound transversely, and the whole was covered with large sheets of +the bark of the oak, elm, spruce, or white cedar, overlapping like the +shingles of a roof, upon which, for their better security, split poles +were made fast with cords of linden bark. At the crown of the arch, +along the entire length of the house, an opening a foot wide was left for +the admission of light and the escape of smoke. At each end was a close +porch of similar +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxvii" id="Page_xxvii">xxvii</a></span> +construction; and here were stowed casks of bark, +filled with smoked fish, Indian corn, and other stores not liable to +injury from frost. Within, on both sides, were wide scaffolds, four feet +from the floor, and extending the entire length of the house, like the +seats of a colossal omnibus. +<a href="#footer_0-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +These were formed of thick sheets of bark, supported by posts and transverse +poles, and covered with mats and skins. Here, in summer, was the sleeping-place +of the inmates, and the space beneath served for storage of their +firewood. The fires were on the ground, in a line down the middle of the +house. Each sufficed for two families, who, in winter, slept closely +packed around them. Above, just under the vaulted roof, were a great +number of poles, like the perches of a hen-roost, and here were suspended +weapons, clothing, skins, and ornaments. Here, too, in harvest time, +the squaws hung the ears of unshelled corn, till the rude abode, through +all its length, seemed decked with a golden tapestry. In general, +however, its only lining was a thick coating of soot from the smoke of +fires with neither draught, chimney, nor window. So pungent was the +smoke, that it produced inflammation of the eyes, attended in old age +with frequent blindness. Another annoyance was the fleas; and a third, +the unbridled and unruly children. Privacy there was none. The house +was one chamber, sometimes lodging more than twenty families. +<a href="#footer_0-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00195" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-7" name="footer_0-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + The permanent bark villages of the Dahcotah of the + St. Peter's are the nearest modern approach to the Huron + towns. The whole Huron country abounds with evidences of + having been occupied by a numerous population. "On a + close inspection of the forest," Dr. Taché + writes to me, "the greatest part of it seems to have + been cleared at former periods, and almost the only + places bearing the character of the primitive forest are + the low grounds."</p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-8" name="footer_0-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1635</i>, 31. + Champlain says that he saw them, in 1615, more than + thirty fathoms long; while Vanderdonck reports the length, + from actual measurement, of an Iroquois house, at a + hundred and eighty yards, or five hundred and forty + feet!</p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-9" name="footer_0-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + Often, especially among the Iroquois, the internal + arrangement was different. The scaffolds or platforms were + raised only a foot from the earthen floor, and were only twelve or + thirteen feet long, with intervening spaces, where the occupants stored + their family provisions and other articles. Five or six feet above was + another platform, often occupied by children. One pair of platforms + sufficed for a family, and here during summer they slept pellmell, + in the clothes they wore by day, and without pillows.</p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-10" name="footer_0-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + One of the best descriptions of the Huron and Iroquois + houses is that of Sagard, <i>Voyage des Hurons</i>, 118. + See also Champlain (1627), 78; Brébeuf, <i>Relation + des Hurons, 1635</i>, 31; Vanderdonck, <i>New Netherlands</i>, in + N. Y. <i>Hist. Coll., Second Ser.</i>, I. 196; Lafitau, <i>Mœurs + des Sauvages</i>, II. 10. The account given by Cartier of + the houses he saw at Montreal corresponds with the above. + He describes them as about fifty yards long. In this case, + there were partial partitions for the several families, + and a sort of loft above. Many of the Iroquois and Huron + houses were of similar construction, the partitions being + at the sides only, leaving a wide passage down the middle + of the house. Bartram, <i>Observations on a Journey from + Pennsylvania to Canada</i>, gives a description and plan of the + Iroquois Council-House in 1751, which was of this + construction. Indeed, the Iroquois preserved this mode of + building, in all essential points, down to a recent period. + They usually framed the sides of their houses + on rows of upright posts, arched with separate poles for the roof. + The Hurons, no doubt, did the same in their larger structures. For a + door, there was a sheet of bark hung on wooden hinges, or suspended by + cords from above.</p> + <p id="id00196"> + On the site of Huron towns which were destroyed by fire, the + size, shape, and arrangement of the houses can still, in some + instances, be traced by remains in the form of charcoal, as + well as by the charred bones and fragments of pottery found + among the ashes.</p> + <p id="id00197"> + Dr. Taché, after a zealous and minute examination of + the Huron country, extended through five years, writes to me + as follows. "From the remains I have found, I can vouch for + the scrupulous correctness of our ancient writers. With the + aid of their indications and descriptions, I have been able + to detect the sites of villages in the midst of the forest, + and by time study, <i>in situ</i>, of archæological + monuments, small as they are, to understand and confirm their + many interesting details of the habits, and especially the + funeral rites, of these extraordinary tribes."<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00198"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxviii" id="Page_xxviii">xxviii</a></span> +He who entered on a winter night beheld a strange spectacle: the vista of +fires lighting the smoky concave; the bronzed groups encircling +each,—cooking, eating, gambling, or amusing themselves with idle +badinage; shrivelled squaws, hideous with threescore years of hardship; +grisly old warriors, scarred with Iroquois war-clubs; young aspirants, +whose honors were yet to be won; damsels gay with ochre and wampum; +restless children pellmell with restless dogs. Now a tongue of resinous +flame painted each wild feature in vivid light; now the fitful gleam +expired, and the group vanished from sight, as their nation has vanished +from history.</p> + +<p id="id00199"> +The fortified towns of the Hurons were all on the side +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxix" id="Page_xxix">xxix</a></span> +exposed to +Iroquois incursions. The fortifications of all this family of tribes +were, like their dwellings, in essential points alike. A situation was +chosen favorable to defence,—the bank of a lake, the crown of a +difficult hill, or a high point of land in the fork of confluent rivers. +A ditch, several feet deep, was dug around the village, and the earth +thrown up on the inside. Trees were then felled by an alternate process +of burning and hacking the burnt part with stone hatchets, and by similar +means were cut into lengths to form palisades. These were planted on the +embankment, in one, two, three, or four concentric rows,—those of each +row inclining towards those of the other rows until they intersected. +The whole was lined within, to the height of a man, with heavy sheets of +bark; and at the top, where the palisades crossed, was a gallery of +timber for the defenders, together with wooden gutters, by which streams +of water could be poured down on fires kindled by the enemy. Magazines +of stones, and rude ladders for mounting the rampart, completed the +provision for defence. The forts of the Iroquois were stronger and more +elaborate than those of the Hurons; and to this day large districts in +New York are marked with frequent remains of their ditches and +embankments. +<a href="#footer_0-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00200" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-11" name="footer_0-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + There is no mathematical regularity in these works. In their form, + the builders were guided merely by the nature of the ground. Frequently + a precipice or river sufficed for partial defence, and the line of + embankment occurs only on one or two sides. In one instance, distinct + traces of a double line of palisades are visible along the embankment. + (See Squier, <i>Aboriginal Monuments of New York</i>, 38.) It is + probable that the palisade was planted first, and the earth heaped + around it. Indeed, this is stated by the Tuscarora Indian, Cusick, in + his curious <i>History of the Six Nations</i> (Iroquois). + Brébeuf says, that as early as 1636 the + Jesuits taught the Hurons to build rectangular palisaded works, with + bastions. The Iroquois adopted the same practice at an early period, + omitting the ditch and embankment; and it is probable, that, even in + their primitive defences, the palisades, where the ground was of a nature + to yield easily to their rude implements, were planted simply in holes + dug for the purpose. Such seems to have been the Iroquois fortress + attacked by Champlain in 1615.</p> + <p id="id00201"> + The Muscogees, with other Southern tribes, and occasionally the + Algonquins, had palisaded towns; but the palisades were usually but a + single row, planted upright. The tribes of Virginia occasionally + surrounded their dwellings with a triple palisade.—Beverly, + <i>History of Virginia</i>, 149.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00202"> +Among these tribes there was no individual ownership of land, but each +family had for the time exclusive right +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxx" id="Page_xxx">xxx</a></span> + to as much as it saw fit to +cultivate. The clearing process—a most toilsome one—consisted in +hacking off branches, piling them together with brushwood around the foot +of the standing trunks, and setting fire to the whole. The squaws, +working with their hoes of wood and bone among the charred stumps, +sowed their corn, beans, pumpkins, tobacco, sunflowers, and Huron hemp. +No manure was used; but, at intervals of from ten to thirty years, +when the soil was exhausted, and firewood distant, the village was +abandoned and a new one built.</p> + +<p id="id00203"> +There was little game in the Huron country; and here, as among the +Iroquois, the staple of food was Indian corn, cooked without salt in a +variety of forms, each more odious than the last. Venison was a luxury +found only at feasts; dog-flesh was in high esteem; and, in some of the +towns captive bears were fattened for festive occasions. These tribes +were far less improvident than the roving Algonquins, and stores of +provision were laid up against a season of want. Their main stock of +corn was buried in <i>caches</i>, or deep holes in the earth, either within +or without the houses.</p> + +<p id="id00204"> +In respect to the arts of life, all these stationary tribes were in +advance of the wandering hunters of the North. The women made a species +of earthen pot for cooking, but these were supplanted by the copper +kettles of the French traders. They wove rush mats with no little +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxi" id="Page_xxxi">xxxi</a></span> +skill. +They spun twine from hemp, by the primitive process of rolling it on +their thighs; and of this twine they made nets. They extracted oil from +fish and from the seeds of the sunflower,—the latter, apparently, +only for the purposes of the toilet. They pounded their maize in huge +mortars of wood, hollowed by alternate burnings and scrapings. Their +stone axes, spear and arrow heads, and bone fish-hooks, were fast giving +place to the iron of the French; but they had not laid aside their +shields of raw bison-hide, or of wood overlaid with plaited and twisted +thongs of skin. They still used, too, their primitive breastplates and +greaves of twigs interwoven with cordage. +<a href="#footer_0-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +The masterpiece of Huron handiwork, however, was the birch +canoe, in the construction of which the Algonquins were no less skilful. +The Iroquois, in the absence of the birch, were forced to use the bark of +the elm, which was greatly inferior both in lightness and strength. +Of pipes, than which nothing was more important in their eyes, the Hurons +made a great variety, some of baked clay, others of various kinds of +stone, carved by the men, during their long periods of monotonous leisure, +often with great skill and ingenuity. But their most mysterious fabric +was wampum. This was at once their currency, their ornament, their pen, +ink, and parchment; and its use was by no means confined to tribes of the +Iroquois stock. It consisted of elongated beads, white and purple, +made from the inner part of certain shells. It is not easy to conceive +how, with their rude implements, the Indians contrived to shape and +perforate this intractable material. The art soon fell into disuse, +however; for wampum better than their own +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxii" id="Page_xxxii">xxxii</a></span> +was brought them by the traders, +besides abundant imitations in glass and porcelain. Strung into +necklaces, or wrought into collars, belts, and bracelets, it was the +favorite decoration of the Indian girls at festivals and dances. It +served also a graver purpose. No compact, no speech, or clause of a +speech, to the representative of another nation, had any force, unless +confirmed by the delivery of a string or belt of wampum. +<a href="#footer_0-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +The belts, on occasions of importance, were wrought into +significant devices, suggestive of the substance of the compact or speech, +and designed as aids to memory. To one or more old men of the nation was +assigned the honorable, but very onerous, charge of keepers of the +wampum,—in other words, of the national records; and it was for them to +remember and interpret the meaning of the belts. The figures on +wampum-belts were, for the most part, simply mnemonic. So also were +those carved on wooden tablets, or painted on bark and skin, to preserve +in memory the songs of war, hunting, or magic. +<a href="#footer_0-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +The Hurons had, however, in common with other tribes, a system of rude +pictures and arbitrary signs, by which they could convey to each other, +with tolerable precision, information touching the ordinary subjects of +Indian interest.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-12" name="footer_0-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + Some of the northern tribes of California, at the present day, + wear a sort of breastplate "composed of thin parallel battens + of very tough wood, woven together with a small cord."<br /> + <a id="footer_0-13" name="footer_0-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + Beaver-skins and other valuable furs were sometimes, on such + occasions, used as a substitute.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-14" name="footer_0-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + Engravings of many specimens of these figured songs are given + in the voluminous reports on the condition of the Indians, + published by Government, under the editorship of Mr. + Schoolcraft. The specimens are chiefly Algonquin.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + + +<p id="id00205"> +Their dress was chiefly of skins, cured with smoke after the well-known +Indian mode. That of the women, according to the Jesuits, was more +modest than that "of our most pious ladies of France." The young girls +on festal occasions must be excepted from this commendation, as they wore +merely a kilt from the waist to the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxiii" id="Page_xxxiii">xxxiii</a></span> +knee, besides the wampum decorations +of the breast and arms. Their long black hair, gathered behind the neck, +was decorated with disks of native copper, or gay pendants made in France, +and now occasionally unearthed in numbers from their graves. The men, +in summer, were nearly naked,—those of a kindred tribe wholly so, +with the sole exception of their moccasins. In winter they were clad in +tunics and leggins of skin, and at all seasons, on occasions of ceremony, +were wrapped from head to foot in robes of beaver or otter furs, +sometimes of the greatest value. On the inner side, these robes were +decorated with painted figures and devices, or embroidered with the dyed +quills of the Canada hedgehog. In this art of embroidery, however, +the Hurons were equalled or surpassed by some of the Algonquin tribes. +They wore their hair after a variety of grotesque and startling fashions. +With some, it was loose on one side, and tight braided on the other; with +others, close shaved, leaving one or more long and cherished locks; while, +with others again, it bristled in a ridge across the crown, like the back +of a hyena. +<a href="#footer_0-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +When in +full dress, they were painted with ochre, white clay, soot, and the red +juice of certain berries. They practised tattooing, sometimes covering +the whole body with indelible devices. +<a href="#footer_0-16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +When of such +extent, the process was very severe; and though no murmur escaped the +sufferer, he sometimes died from its effects.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-15" name="footer_0-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + See Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1633</i>, 35.—"Quelles hures!" + exclaimed some astonished Frenchman. Hence the name, + <i>Hurons</i>. <br /> + <a id="footer_0-16" name="footer_0-16"></a> + <span class="superscript">[16]</span> + Bressani, <i>Relation Abrégée</i>, + 72.—Champlain has a picture of a warrior + thus tattooed. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + + +<p id="id00206"> +Female life among the Hurons had no bright side. It was a youth of +license, an age of drudgery. Despite an organization which, while it +perhaps made them less sensible +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxiv" id="Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a></span> +of pain, certainly made them less +susceptible of passion, than the higher races of men, the Hurons were +notoriously dissolute, far exceeding in this respect the wandering and +starving Algonquins. +<a href="#footer_0-17"><span class="superscript">[17]</span></a> +Marriage existed among them, and polygamy was +exceptional; but divorce took place at the will or caprice of either +party. A practice also prevailed of temporary or experimental marriage, +lasting a day, a week, or more. The seal of the compact was merely the +acceptance of a gift of wampum made by the suitor to the object of his +desire or his whim. These gifts were never returned on the dissolution +of the connection; and as an attractive and enterprising damsel might, +and often did, make twenty such marriages before her final establishment, +she thus collected a wealth +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxv" id="Page_xxxv">xxxv</a></span> + of wampum with which to adorn herself for the +village dances. +<a href="#footer_0-18"><span class="superscript">[18]</span></a> +This provisional matrimony was no bar to a license +boundless and apparently universal, unattended with loss of reputation on +either side. Every instinct of native delicacy quickly vanished under +the influence of Huron domestic life; eight or ten families, and often +more, crowded into one undivided house, where privacy was impossible, +and where strangers were free to enter at all hours of the day or night.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00207" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-17" name="footer_0-17"></a> + <span class="superscript">[17]</span> + Among the Iroquois there were more favorable features in the + condition of women. The matrons had often a considerable influence on + the decisions of the councils. Lafitau, whose book appeared in 1724, + says that the nation was corrupt in his time, but that this was a + degeneracy from their ancient manners. La Potherie and Charlevoix make + a similar statement. Megapolensis, however, in 1644, says that they + were then exceedingly debauched; and Greenhalgh, in 1677, gives ample + evidence of a shameless license. One of their most earnest advocates + of the present day admits that the passion of love among them had no + other than an animal existence. (Morgan, <i>League of the Iroquois</i>, + 322.) There is clear proof that the tribes of the South were equally + corrupt. (See Lawson, <i>Carolina</i>, 34, and other early writers.) + On the other hand, chastity in women was recognized as a virtue by + many tribes. This was peculiarly the case among the Algonquins of + Gaspé, where a lapse in this regard was counted a disgrace. + (See Le Clerc, <i>Nouvelle Relation de la Gaspésie</i>, 417, + where a contrast is drawn between the modesty of the girls of this + region and the open prostitution practised among those of other + tribes.) Among the Sioux, adultery on the part of a woman is + punished by mutilation.</p> + <p id="id00208"> + The remarkable forbearance observed by Eastern and Northern tribes + towards female captives was probably the result of a superstition. + Notwithstanding the prevailing license, the Iroquois and other tribes + had among themselves certain conventional rules which excited the + admiration of the Jesuit celibates. Some of these had a superstitious + origin; others were in accordance with the iron requirements of their + savage etiquette. To make the Indian a hero of romance is mere + nonsense.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-18" name="footer_0-18"></a> + <span class="superscript">[18]</span> + "Il s'en trouue telle qui passe ainsi sa ieunesse, qui aura en plus + de vingt maris, lesquels vingt maris ne sont pas seuls en la jouyssance + de la beste, quelques mariez qu'ils soient: car la nuict venuë, les + ieunes femmes courent d'une cabane en une autre, come font les ieunes + hommes de leur costé, qui en prennent par ou bon leur semble, + toutesfois sans violence aucune, et n'en reçoiuent aucune + infamie, ny injure, la coustume du pays estant telle."—Champlain + (1627), 90. Compare Sagard, <i>Voyage des Hurons</i>, 176. Both were + personal observers.</p> + <p id="id00210"> + The ceremony, even of the most serious marriage, consisted merely in the + bride's bringing a dish of boiled maize to the bridegroom, together with + an armful of fuel. There was often a feast of the relatives, or of the + whole village. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00211"> +Once a mother, and married with a reasonable permanency, the Huron woman +from a wanton became a drudge. In March and April she gathered the +year's supply of firewood. Then came sowing, tilling, and harvesting, +smoking fish, dressing skins, making cordage and clothing, preparing +food. On the march it was she who bore the burden; for, in the words of +Champlain, "their women were their mules." The natural effect followed. +In every Huron town were shrivelled hags, hideous and despised, who, +in vindictiveness, ferocity, and cruelty, far exceeded the men.</p> + +<p id="id00212"> +To the men fell the task of building the houses, and making weapons, +pipes, and canoes. For the rest, their home-life was a life of leisure +and amusement. The summer and autumn were their seasons of serious +employment,—of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxvi" id="Page_xxxvi">xxxvi</a></span> +war, hunting, fishing, and trade. There was an +established system of traffic between the Hurons and the Algonquins of +the Ottawa and Lake Nipissing: the Hurons exchanging wampum, fishing-nets, +and corn for fish and furs. +<a href="#footer_0-19"><span class="superscript">[19]</span></a> +From various +relics found in their graves, it may be inferred that they also traded +with tribes of the Upper Lakes, as well as with tribes far southward, +towards the Gulf of Mexico. Each branch of traffic was the monopoly of +the family or clan by whom it was opened. They might, if they could, +punish interlopers, by stripping them of all they possessed, unless the +latter had succeeded in reaching home with the fruits of their trade,—in +which case the outraged monopolists had no further right of redress, +and could not attempt it without a breaking of the public peace, and +exposure to the authorized vengeance of the other party. +<a href="#footer_0-20"><span class="superscript">[20]</span></a> +Their fisheries, too, +were regulated by customs having the force of laws. These pursuits, +with their hunting,—in which they were aided by a wolfish breed of dogs +unable to bark,—consumed the autumn and early winter; but before the new +year the greater part of the men were gathered in their villages.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-19" name="footer_0-19"></a> + <span class="superscript">[19]</span> + Champlain (1627), 84.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-20" name="footer_0-20"></a> + <span class="superscript">[20]</span> + Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 156 + (Cramoisy).<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00213"> +Now followed their festal season; for it was the season of idleness for +the men, and of leisure for the women. Feasts, gambling, smoking, +and dancing filled the vacant hours. Like other Indians, the Hurons were +desperate gamblers, staking their all,—ornaments, clothing, canoes, +pipes, weapons, and wives. One of their principal games was played with +plum-stones, or wooden lozenges, black on one side and white on the +other. These were tossed up in a wooden bowl, by striking it sharply +upon the ground, and the players betted on the black or white. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxvii" id="Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a></span> +Sometimes +a village challenged a neighboring village. The game was played in one +of the houses. Strong poles were extended from side to side, and on +these sat or perched the company, party facing party, while two players +struck the bowl on the ground between. Bets ran high; and Brébeuf +relates, that once, in midwinter, with the snow nearly three feet deep, +the men of his village returned from a gambling visit, bereft of their +leggins, and barefoot, yet in excellent humor. +<a href="#footer_0-21"><span class="superscript">[21]</span></a> +Ludicrous as it may appear, these games were often medical +prescriptions, and designed as a cure of the sick.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-21" name="footer_0-21"></a> + <span class="superscript">[21]</span> + Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 113.—This + game is still a favorite among the Iroquois, some of whom hold to + the belief that they will play it after death in the realms of bliss. + In all their important games of chance, they employed charms, + incantations, and all the resources of their magical art, to gain + good luck.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00214"> +Their feasts and dances were of various character, social, medical, +and mystical or religious. Some of their feasts were on a scale of +extravagant profusion. A vain or ambitious host threw all his substance +into one entertainment, inviting the whole village, and perhaps several +neighboring villages also. In the winter of 1635 there was a feast at +the village of Contarrea, where thirty kettles were on the fires, and +twenty deer and four bears were served up. +<a href="#footer_0-22"><span class="superscript">[22]</span></a> +The invitation was simple. The messenger addressed +the desired guest with the concise summons, "Come and eat"; and to refuse +was a grave offence. He took his dish and spoon, and repaired to the +scene of festivity. Each, as he entered, greeted his host with the +guttural ejaculation, <i>Ho!</i> and ranged himself with the rest, squatted on +the earthen floor or on the platform along the sides of the house. +The kettles were slung over the fires in the midst. First, there was a +long prelude of lugubrious singing. Then the host, who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxviii" id="Page_xxxviii">xxxviii</a></span> +took no share in +the feast, proclaimed in a loud voice the contents of each kettle in turn, +and at each announcement the company responded in unison, <i>Ho!</i> The +attendant squaws filled with their ladles the bowls of all the guests. +There was talking, laughing, jesting, singing, and smoking; and at times +the entertainment was protracted through the day.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-22" name="footer_0-22"></a> + <span class="superscript">[22]</span> + Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 111. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + + +<p id="id00215">When the feast had a medical or mystic character, it was indispensable +that each guest should devour the whole of the portion given him, however +enormous. Should he fail, the host would be outraged, the community +shocked, and the spirits roused to vengeance. Disaster would befall the +nation,—death, perhaps, the individual. In some cases, the imagined +efficacy of the feast was proportioned to the rapidity with which the +viands were despatched. Prizes of tobacco were offered to the most rapid +feeder; and the spectacle then became truly porcine. +<a href="#footer_0-23"><span class="superscript">[23]</span></a> + These <i>festins à manger tout</i> were much +dreaded by many of the Hurons, who, however, were never known to decline +them.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-23" name="footer_0-23"></a> + <span class="superscript">[23]</span> + This superstition was not confined to the Hurons, but extended to many + other tribes, including, probably, all the Algonquins, with some of + which it holds in full force to this day. A feaster, unable to do his + full part, might, if he could, hire another to aid him; otherwise, he + must remain in his place till the work was done. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00216"> +Invitation to a dance was no less concise than to a feast. Sometimes a +crier proclaimed the approaching festivity through the village. The +house was crowded. Old men, old women, and children thronged the +platforms, or clung to the poles which supported the sides and roof. +Fires were raked out, and the earthen floor cleared. Two chiefs sang at +the top of their voices, keeping time to their song with tortoise-shell +rattles. +<a href="#footer_0-24"><span class="superscript">[24]</span></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxxix" id="Page_xxxix">xxxix</a></span> +The men danced with great violence and gesticulation; +the women, with a much more measured action. The former were nearly +divested of clothing,—in mystical dances, sometimes wholly so; and, +from a superstitious motive, this was now and then the case with the women. +Both, however, were abundantly decorated with paint, oil, beads, wampum, +trinkets, and feathers.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00217" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-24" name="footer_0-24"></a> + <span class="superscript">[24]</span> + Sagard gives specimens of their songs. In both dances and feasts + there was no little variety. These were sometimes combined. It is + impossible, in brief space, to indicate more than their general + features. In the famous "war-dance,"—which was frequently danced, + as it still is, for amusement,—speeches, exhortations, jests, + personal satire, and repartee were commonly introduced as a part of + the performance, sometimes by way of patriotic stimulus, sometimes for + amusement. The music in this case was the drum and the war-song. + Some of the other dances were also interspersed with speeches and + sharp witticisms, always taken in good part, though Lafitau says that + he has seen the victim so pitilessly bantered that he was forced to + hide his head in his blanket.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00218"> +Religious festivals, councils, the entertainment of an envoy, the +inauguration of a chief, were all occasions of festivity, in which social +pleasure was joined with matter of grave import, and which at times +gathered nearly all the nation into one great and harmonious concourse. +Warlike expeditions, too, were always preceded by feasting, at which the +warriors vaunted the fame of their ancestors, and their own past and +prospective exploits. A hideous scene of feasting followed the torture +of a prisoner. Like the torture itself, it was, among the Hurons, +partly an act of vengeance, and partly a religious rite. If the victim +had shown courage, the heart was first roasted, cut into small pieces, +and given to the young men and boys, who devoured it to increase their +own courage. The body was then divided, thrown into the kettles, and +eaten by the assembly, the head being the portion of the chief. Many of +the Hurons joined in the feast with reluctance and horror, while others +took pleasure in it. +<a href="#footer_0-25"><span class="superscript">[25]</span></a> +This was the only form of cannibalism +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xl" id="Page_xl">xl</a></span> +among them, since, unlike the wandering Algonquins, they were rarely +under the desperation of extreme famine.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00219" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-25" name="footer_0-25"></a> + <span class="superscript">[25]</span> + "Il y en a qui en mangent auec plaisir."—Brébeuf, + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 121.—Le Mercier gives a + description of one of these scenes, at which he was present. + (<i>Ibid., 1637</i>, 118.) The same horrible practice + prevailed to a greater extent among the Iroquois. One of the most + remarkable instances of Indian cannibalism is that furnished by a + Western tribe, the Miamis, among whom there was a clan, or family, + whose hereditary duty and privilege it was to devour the bodies of + prisoners burned to death. The act had somewhat of a religious + character, was attended with ceremonial observances, and was + restricted to the family in question.—See Hon. Lewis Cass, + in the appendix to Colonel Whiting's poem, "Ontwa." <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00220"> +A great knowledge of simples for the cure of disease is popularly +ascribed to the Indian. Here, however, as elsewhere, his knowledge is in +fact scanty. He rarely reasons from cause to effect, or from effect to +cause. Disease, in his belief, is the result of sorcery, the agency of +spirits or supernatural influences, undefined and indefinable. The +Indian doctor was a conjurer, and his remedies were to the last degree +preposterous, ridiculous, or revolting. The well-known Indian +sweating-bath is the most prominent of the few means of cure based on agencies +simply physical; and this, with all the other natural remedies, was +applied, not by the professed doctor, but by the sufferer himself, +or his friends. +<a href="#footer_0-26"><span class="superscript">[26]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00221" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-26" name="footer_0-26"></a> + <span class="superscript">[26]</span> + The Indians had many simple applications for wounds, said to have been + very efficacious; but the purity of their blood, owing to the + absence from their diet of condiments and stimulants, as well as + to their active habits, aided the remedy. In general, they were + remarkably exempt from disease or deformity, though often seriously + injured by alternations of hunger and excess. The Hurons sometimes + died from the effects of their <i>festins à manger + tout</i>. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00222"> +The Indian doctor beat, shook, and pinched his patient, howled, whooped, +rattled a tortoise-shell at his ear to expel the evil spirit, bit him +till blood flowed, and then displayed in triumph a small piece of wood, +bone, or iron, which he had hidden in his mouth, and which he affirmed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xli" id="Page_xli">xli</a></span> +was the source of the disease, now happily removed. +<a href="#footer_0-27"><span class="superscript">[27]</span></a> +Sometimes he +prescribed a dance, feast, or game; and the whole village bestirred +themselves to fulfil the injunction to the letter. They gambled away +their all; they gorged themselves like vultures; they danced or played +ball naked among the snow-drifts from morning till night. At a medical +feast, some strange or unusual act was commonly enjoined as vital to the +patient's cure: as, for example, the departing guest, in place of the +customary monosyllable of thanks, was required to greet his host with an +ugly grimace. Sometimes, by prescription, half the village would throng +into the house where the patient lay, led by old women disguised with the +heads and skins of bears, and beating with sticks on sheets of dry bark. +Here the assembly danced and whooped for hours together, with a din to +which a civilized patient would promptly have succumbed. Sometimes the +doctor wrought himself into a prophetic fury, raving through the length +and breadth of the dwelling, snatching firebrands and flinging them about +him, to the terror of the squaws, with whom, in their combustible +tenements, fire was a constant bugbear.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00223" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-27" name="footer_0-27"></a> + <span class="superscript">[27]</span> + The Hurons believed that the chief cause of disease and death was a + monstrous serpent, that lived under the earth. By touching a tuft of + hair, a feather, or a fragment of bone, with a portion of his flesh or + fat, the sorcerer imparted power to it of entering the body of his + victim, and gradually killing him. It was an important part of the + doctor's function to extract these charms from the vitals of his + patient.—Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1648</i>, 75.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00224"> +Among the Hurons and kindred tribes, disease was frequently ascribed to +some hidden wish ungratified. Hence the patient was overwhelmed with +gifts, in the hope, that, in their multiplicity, the desideratum might be +supplied. Kettles, skins, awls, pipes, wampum, fish-hooks, weapons, +objects of every conceivable variety, were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xlii" id="Page_xlii">xlii</a></span> +piled before him by a host of +charitable contributors; and if, as often happened, a dream, the Indian +oracle, had revealed to the sick man the secret of his cure, his demands +were never refused, however extravagant, idle, nauseous, or abominable. +<a href="#footer_0-28"><span class="superscript">[28]</span></a> +Hence it is no matter of wonder that sudden illness and sudden +cures were frequent among the Hurons. The patient reaped profit, +and the doctor both profit and honor.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00225" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-28" name="footer_0-28"></a> + <span class="superscript">[28]</span> + "Dans le pays de nos Hurons, il se faict aussi des assemblées de + toutes les filles d'vn bourg auprés d'vne malade, tant à + sa priere, suyuant la resuerie ou le songe qu'elle en aura euë, + que par l'ordonnance de Loki (<i>the doctor</i>), pour sa santé et + guerison. Les filles ainsi assemblées, on leur demande à + toutes, les vnes apres les autres, celuy qu'elles veulent des ieunes + hommes du bourg pour dormir auec elles la nuict prochaine: elles en + nomment chacune vn, qui sont aussi-tost aduertis par les Maistres de + la ceremonie, lesquels viennent tous au soir en la presence de la + malade dormir chacun auec celle qui l'a choysi, d'vn bout à + l'autre de la Cabane, et passent ainsi toute la nuict, pendant + que deux Capitaines aux deux bouts du logis chantent et sonnent de leur + Tortuë du soir au lendemain matin, que la ceremonie cesse. Dieu + vueille abolir vne si damnable et malheureuse ceremonie."—Sagard, + <i>Voyage des Hurons</i>, 158.—This unique mode of cure, which + was called <i>Andacwandet</i>, is also described by Lalemant, who saw it. + (<i>Relation des Hurons, 1639</i>, 84.) It was one of the recognized + remedies.</p> + <p id="id00226"> + For the medical practices of the Hurons, see also Champlain, + Brébeuf, Lafitau, Charlevoix, and other early writers. + Those of the Algonquins were in some points different. The + doctor often consulted the spirits, to learn the cause and + cure of the disease, by a method peculiar to that family of + tribes. He shut himself in a small conical lodge, and the + spirits here visited him, manifesting their presence by a + violent shaking of the whole structure. This superstition + will be described in another connection. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p><br /></p> +<h3 class="double-space-top" id="id00227">THE HURON-IROQUOIS FAMILY.</h3> + +<p id="id00228"> +<span class="smcap">And</span> +now, before entering upon the very curious subject of Indian social +and tribal organization, it may be well briefly to observe the position +and prominent distinctive features of the various communities speaking +dialects of the generic tongue of the Iroquois. In this remarkable +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xliii" id="Page_xliii">xliii</a></span> +family of tribes occur the fullest developments of Indian character, +and the most conspicuous examples of Indian intelligence. If the higher +traits popularly ascribed to the race are not to be found here, they are +to be found nowhere. A palpable proof of the superiority of this stock +is afforded in the size of the Iroquois and Huron brains. In average +internal capacity of the cranium, they surpass, with few and doubtful +exceptions, all other aborigines of North and South America, not +excepting the civilized races of Mexico and Peru. +<a href="#footer_0-29"><span class="superscript">[29]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00229" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-29" name="footer_0-29"></a> + <span class="superscript">[29]</span> + "On comparing five Iroquois heads, I find that they give an average + internal capacity of eighty-eight cubic inches, which is within two + inches of the Caucasian mean."—Morton, <i>Crania Americana</i>, + 195.—It is remarkable that the internal capacity of the skulls + of the barbarous American tribes is greater than that of either the + Mexicans or the Peruvians. "The difference in volume is chiefly + confined to the occipital and basal portions,"—in other words, + to the region of the animal propensities; and hence, it is argued, + the ferocious, brutal, and uncivilizable character of the wild + tribes.—See J. S. Phillips, <i>Admeasurements of Crania of the + Principal Groups of Indians in the United States</i>.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00230"> +In the woody valleys of the Blue Mountains, south of the Nottawassaga Bay +of Lake Huron, and two days' journey west of the frontier Huron towns, +lay the nine villages of the Tobacco Nation, or Tionnontates. +<a href="#footer_0-30"><span class="superscript">[30]</span></a> +In manners, +as in language, they closely resembled the Hurons. Of old they were +their enemies, but were now at peace with them, and about the year 1640 +became their close confederates. Indeed, in the ruin which befell that +hapless people, the Tionnontates alone retained a tribal organization; +and their descendants, with a trifling exception, are to this day the +sole inheritors of the Huron or Wyandot name. Expatriated and wandering, +they held for generations a paramount influence among the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xliv" id="Page_xliv">xliv</a></span> +Western tribes. +<a href="#footer_0-31"><span class="superscript">[31]</span></a> +In their original seats among the Blue +Mountains, they offered an example extremely rare among Indians, of a +tribe raising a crop for the market; for they traded in tobacco largely +with other tribes. Their Huron confederates, keen traders, would not +suffer them to pass through their country to traffic with the French, +preferring to secure for themselves the advantage of bartering with them +in French goods at an enormous profit. +<a href="#footer_0-32"><span class="superscript">[32]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00231" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-30" name="footer_0-30"></a> + <span class="superscript">[30]</span> + <i>Synonymes</i>: Tionnontates, Etionontates, Tuinontatek, Dionondadies, + Khionontaterrhonons, Petuneux or Nation du Petun (Tobacco).<br /> + <a id="footer_0-31" name="footer_0-31"></a> + <span class="superscript">[31]</span> + "L'ame de tous les Conseils."—Charlevoix, <i>Voyage</i>, + 199.—In 1763 they were Pontiac's best warriors.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-32" name="footer_0-32"></a> + <span class="superscript">[32]</span> + On the Tionnontates, see Le Mercier, <i>Relation, 1637</i>, + 163; Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1641</i>, 69; Ragueneau, + <i>Relation, 1648</i>, 61. An excellent summary of their + character and history, by Mr. Shea, will be found in + <i>Hist. Mag.</i>, V. 262.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00232"> +Journeying southward five days from the Tionnontate towns, the forest +traveller reached the border villages of the Attiwandarons, or Neutral +Nation. +<a href="#footer_0-33"><span class="superscript">[33]</span></a> +As early as 1626, they were visited by the Franciscan friar, La Roche +Dallion, who reports a numerous population in twenty-eight towns, +besides many small hamlets. Their country, about forty leagues in +extent, embraced wide and fertile districts on the north shore of Lake +Erie, and their frontier extended eastward across the Niagara, where +they had three or four outlying towns. +<a href="#footer_0-34"><span class="superscript">[34]</span></a> +Their name of Neutrals was due to their neutrality in the war between the +Hurons and the Iroquois proper. The hostile warriors, meeting in a +Neutral cabin, were forced to keep the peace, though, once in the open +air, the truce was at an end. Yet this people were abundantly ferocious, +and, while +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xlv" id="Page_xlv">xlv</a></span> +holding a pacific attitude betwixt their warring kindred, +waged deadly strife with the Mascoutins, an Algonquin horde beyond Lake +Michigan. Indeed, it was but recently that they had been at blows with +seventeen Algonquin tribes. +<a href="#footer_0-35"><span class="superscript">[35]</span></a> +They burned female prisoners, a practice unknown to the Hurons. +<a href="#footer_0-36"><span class="superscript">[36]</span></a> +Their country was full of game, and they were bold and active hunters. +In form and stature they surpassed even the Hurons, whom they resembled +in their mode of life, and from whose language their own, though +radically similar, was dialectically distinct. Their licentiousness +was even more open and shameless; and they stood alone in the +extravagance of some of their usages. They kept their dead in their +houses till they became insupportable; then scraped the flesh from the +bones, and displayed them in rows along the walls, there to remain till +the periodical Feast of the Dead, or general burial. In summer, the +men wore no clothing whatever, but were usually tattooed from head to +foot with powdered charcoal.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-33" name="footer_0-33"></a> + <span class="superscript">[33]</span> + Attiwandarons, Attiwendaronk, Atirhagenrenrets, Rhagenratka + (<i>Jesuit Relations</i>), Attionidarons (<i>Sagard</i>). + They, and not the Eries, were the <i>Kahkwas</i> of + Seneca tradition. <br /> + <a id="footer_0-34" name="footer_0-34"></a> + <span class="superscript">[34]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1641</i>, + 71.—The Niagara was then called the River of the + Neutrals, or the Onguiaahra. Lalemant estimates the + Neutral population, in 1640, at twelve thousand, in + forty villages. <br /> + <a id="footer_0-35" name="footer_0-35"></a> + <span class="superscript">[35]</span> + <i>Lettre du Père La Roche Dallion, 8 Juillet, + 1627</i>, in Le Clerc, <i>Établissement de la + Foy</i>, I. 346.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-36" name="footer_0-36"></a> + <span class="superscript">[36]</span> + Women were often burned by the Iroquois: witness the case of + Catherine Mercier in 1651, and many cases of Indian women + mentioned by the early writers.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00233"> +The sagacious Hurons refused them a passage through their country to the +French; and the Neutrals apparently had not sense or reflection enough to +take the easy and direct route of Lake Ontario, which was probably open +to them, though closed against the Hurons by Iroquois enmity. Thus the +former made excellent profit by exchanging French goods at high rates for +the valuable furs of the Neutrals. +<a href="#footer_0-37"><span class="superscript">[37]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00234" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-37" name="footer_0-37"></a> + <span class="superscript">[37]</span> + The Hurons became very jealous, when La Roche Dallion visited the + Neutrals, lest a direct trade should be opened between the latter + and the French, against whom they at once put in circulation a + variety of slanders: that they were a people who lived on snakes + and venom; that they were furnished with tails; and that French + women, though having but one breast, bore six children at a birth. + The missionary nearly lost his life in consequence, the Neutrals + conceiving the idea that he would infect their country with a + pestilence.—La Roche Dallion, in Le Clerc, I. 346.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00235"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xlvi" id="Page_xlvi">xlvi</a></span> +Southward and eastward of Lake Erie dwelt a kindred people, the Eries, +or Nation of the Cat. Little besides their existence is known of them. +They seem to have occupied Southwestern New York, as far east as the +Genesee, the frontier of the Senecas, and in habits and language to have +resembled the Hurons. +<a href="#footer_0-38"><span class="superscript">[38]</span></a> +They were noted warriors, fought with poisoned arrows, and were long a +terror to the neighboring Iroquois. +<a href="#footer_0-39"><span class="superscript">[39]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00236" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-38" name="footer_0-38"></a> + <span class="superscript">[38]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1648</i>, 46.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-39" name="footer_0-39"></a> + <span class="superscript">[39]</span> + Le Mercier, <i>Relation, 1654</i>, 10.—"Nous les + appellons la Nation Chat, à cause qu'il y a dans leur + pais vne quantité prodigieuse de Chats + sauuages."—<i>Ibid</i>.—The Iroquois are said + to have given the same name, <i>Jegosasa, Cat Nation</i>, to the + Neutrals.—Morgan, <i>League of the Iroquois</i>, + 41.</p> + <p id="id00237"> + <i>Synonymes</i>: Eriés, Erigas, Eriehronon, Riguehronon. + The Jesuits never had a mission among them, though they seem + to have been visited by Champlain's adventurous interpreter, + Étienne Brulé, in the summer of 1615.—They + are probably the Carantoüans of Champlain.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00238"> +On the Lower Susquehanna dwelt the formidable tribe called by the French +Andastes. Little is known of them, beyond their general resemblance to +their kindred, in language, habits, and character. Fierce and resolute +warriors, they long made head against the Iroquois of New York, and were +vanquished at last more by disease than by the tomahawk. +<a href="#footer_0-40"><span class="superscript">[40]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00239" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-40" name="footer_0-40"></a> + <span class="superscript">[40]</span> + Gallatin erroneously places the Andastes on the Alleghany, + Bancroft and others adopting the error. The research of Mr. + Shea has shown their identity with the <i>Susquehannocks</i> of + the English, and the <i>Minquas</i> of the Dutch.—See + <i>Hist. Mag.</i>, II. 294.</p> + <p id="id00240"> + <i>Synonymes</i>: Andastes, Andastracronnons, Andastaeronnons, + Andastaguez, Antastoui (French), Susquehannocks (English), + Mengwe, Minquas (Dutch), Conestogas, Conessetagoes (English).<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00241"> +In Central New York, stretching east and west from the Hudson to the +Genesee, lay that redoubted people +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xlvii" id="Page_xlvii">xlvii</a></span> + who have lent their name to the tribal +family of the Iroquois, and stamped it indelibly on the early pages of +American history. Among all the barbarous nations of the continent, +the Iroquois of New York stand paramount. Elements which among other +tribes were crude, confused, and embryotic, were among them systematized +and concreted into an established polity. The Iroquois was the Indian of +Indians. A thorough savage, yet a finished and developed savage, he is +perhaps an example of the highest elevation which man can reach without +emerging from his primitive condition of the hunter. A geographical +position, commanding on one hand the portal of the Great Lakes, and on +the other the sources of the streams flowing both to the Atlantic and the +Mississippi, gave the ambitious and aggressive confederates advantages +which they perfectly understood, and by which they profited to the +utmost. Patient and politic as they were ferocious, they were not only +conquerors of their own race, but the powerful allies and the dreaded +foes of the French and English colonies, flattered and caressed by both, +yet too sagacious to give themselves without reserve to either. Their +organization and their history evince their intrinsic superiority. +Even their traditionary lore, amid its wild puerilities, shows at times +the stamp of an energy and force in striking contrast with the flimsy +creations of Algonquin fancy. That the Iroquois, left under their +institutions to work out their destiny undisturbed, would ever have +developed a civilization of their own, I do not believe. These +institutions, however, are sufficiently characteristic and curious, +and we shall soon have occasion to observe them. +<a href="#footer_0-41"><span class="superscript">[41]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00242" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-41" name="footer_0-41"></a> + <span class="superscript">[41]</span> + The name <i>Iroquois</i> is French. Charlevoix says: "Il a + été formé du terme <i>Hiro</i>, ou <i>Hero</i>, + qui signifie <i>J'ai dit</i>, et par lequel ces sauvages finissent + tous leur discours, comme les Latins faisoient autrefois par leur + <i>Dixi</i>; et de <i>Koué</i>, qui est un cri tantôt + de tristesse, lorsqu'on le prononce en traînant, et + tantôt de joye, quand on le prononce plus court."—<i>Hist. + de la N. F.</i>, I. 271.—Their true name is <i>Hodenosaunee</i>, + or People of the Long House, because their confederacy of five + distinct nations, ranged in a line along Central New York, was + likened to one of the long bark houses already described, with + five fires and five families. The name <i>Agonnonsionni</i>, + or <i>Aquanuscioni</i>, ascribed to them by Lafitau and Charlevoix, + who translated it "House-Makers," <i>Faiseurs de Cabannes</i>, may + be a conversion of the true name with an erroneous rendering. + The following are the true names of the five nations + severally, with their French and English synonymes. For other + synonymes, see "History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac," 8, <i>note</i>. + <br /> + </p> + <table summary="The-Iroquois" class="iroquois"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <th></th> + <th class="smcap">English</th> + <th class="smcap">French</th> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Ganeagaono,</td> + <td>Mohawk,</td> + <td>Agnier.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Onayotekaono,</td> + <td>Oneida, </td> + <td>Onneyut.</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Onundagaono,</td> + <td>Onondaga, </td> + <td>Onnontagué.</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Gweugwehono,</td> + <td>Cayuga, </td> + <td>Goyogouin. </td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Nundawaono, </td> + <td>Seneca, </td> + <td>Tsonnontouans. </td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + + <p id="id00244"> + The Iroquois termination in <i>ono</i>—or <i>onon</i>, as the French write + it—simply means <i>people</i>.</p> +</div> + + +<p> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xlviii" id="Page_xlviii">xlviii</a></span> +</p> +<h3 class="double-space-top" id="id00245">SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION.</h3> + +<p id="id00246"> +<span class="smcap">In</span> +Indian social organization, a problem at once suggests itself. +In these communities, comparatively populous, how could spirits so fierce, +and in many respects so ungoverned, live together in peace, without law +and without enforced authority? Yet there were towns where savages lived +together in thousands with a harmony which civilization might envy. +This was in good measure due to peculiarities of Indian character and +habits. This intractable race were, in certain external respects, +the most pliant and complaisant of mankind. The early missionaries were +charmed by the docile acquiescence with which their dogmas were received; +but they soon discovered that their facile auditors neither believed nor +understood that to which they had so promptly +assented<ins title="Add period after assented.">.</ins> +They assented +from a kind of courtesy, which, while it vexed the priests, tended +greatly to keep the Indians in mutual +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xlix" id="Page_xlix">xlix</a></span> +accord. That well-known +self-control, which, originating in a form of pride, covered the savage nature +of the man with a veil, opaque, though thin, contributed not a little to +the same end. Though vain, arrogant, boastful, and vindictive, the +Indian bore abuse and sarcasm with an astonishing patience. Though +greedy and grasping, he was lavish without stint, and would give away his +all to soothe the manes of a departed relative, gain influence and +applause, or ingratiate himself with his neighbors. In his dread of +public opinion, he rivalled some of his civilized successors.</p> + +<p id="id00247"> +All Indians, and especially these populous and stationary tribes, had +their code of courtesy, whose requirements were rigid and exact; nor +might any infringe it without the ban of public censure. Indian nature, +inflexible and unmalleable, was peculiarly under the control of custom. +Established usage took the place of law,—was, in fact, a sort of common +law, with no tribunal to expound or enforce it. In these wild +democracies,—democracies in spirit, though not in form,—a +respect for native superiority, and a willingness to yield to it, were always +conspicuous. All were prompt to aid each other in distress, and a +neighborly spirit was often exhibited among them. When a young woman was +permanently married, the other women of the village supplied her with +firewood for the year, each contributing an armful. When one or more +families were without shelter, the men of the village joined in building +them a house. In return, the recipients of the favor gave a feast, +if they could; if not, their thanks were sufficient. +<a href="#footer_0-42"><span class="superscript">[42]</span></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_l" id="Page_l">l</a></span> +Among the Iroquois and Hurons—and doubtless among +the kindred tribes—there were marked distinctions of noble and base, +prosperous and poor; yet, while there was food in the village, the +meanest and the poorest need not suffer want. He had but to enter the +nearest house, and seat himself by the fire, when, without a word on +either side, food was placed before him by the women. +<a href="#footer_0-43"><span class="superscript">[43]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00248" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-42" name="footer_0-42"></a> + <span class="superscript">[42]</span> + The following testimony concerning Indian charity and + hospitality is from Ragueneau: "As often as we have seen + tribes broken up, towns destroyed, and their people driven + to flight, we have seen them, to the number of seven or + eight hundred persons, received with open arms by charitable + hosts, who gladly gave them aid, and even distributed among + them a part of the lands already planted, that they might + have the means of living."—<i>Relation, 1650</i>, 28. + <br /> + <a id="footer_0-43" name="footer_0-43"></a> + <span class="superscript">[43]</span> + The Jesuit Brébeuf, than whom no one knew the Hurons + better, is very emphatic in praise of their harmony and social + spirit. Speaking of one of the four nations of which the + Hurons were composed, he says: "Ils ont vne douceur et vne + affabilité quasi incroyable pour des Sauuages; ils ne + se picquent pas aisément.… Ils se maintiennent + dans cette si parfaite intelligence par les frequentes visites, + les secours qu'ils se donnent mutuellement dans leurs maladies, + par les festins et les alliances.… Ils sont moins en + leurs Cabanes que chez leurs amis.… S'ils ont vn bon + morceau, ils en font festin à leurs amis, et + ne le mangent quasi iamais en leur particulier," + etc.—<i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 118.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00249"> +Contrary to the received opinion, these Indians, like others of their +race, when living in communities, were of a very social disposition. +Besides their incessant dances and feasts, great and small, they were +continually visiting, spending most of their time in their neighbors' +houses, chatting, joking, bantering one another with witticisms, sharp, +broad, and in no sense delicate, yet always taken in good part. Every +village had its adepts in these wordy tournaments, while the shrill laugh +of young squaws, untaught to blush, echoed each hardy jest or rough +sarcasm.</p> + +<p id="id00250"> +<a id="id00250a" name="id00250a"></a> +In the organization of the savage communities of the continent, one +feature, more or less conspicuous, continually appears. Each nation or +tribe—to adopt the names by which these communities are usually +known—is subdivided into several clans. These clans are not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_li" id="Page_li">li</a></span> +locally +separate, but are mingled throughout the nation. All the members of each +clan are, or are assumed to be, intimately joined in consanguinity. +Hence it is held an abomination for two persons of the same clan to +intermarry; and hence, again, it follows that every family must contain +members of at least two clans. Each clan has its name, as the clan of +the Hawk, of the Wolf, or of the Tortoise; and each has for its emblem +the figure of the beast, bird, reptile, plant, or other object, from +which its name is derived. This emblem, called <i>totem</i> by the Algonquins, +is often tattooed on the clansman's body, or rudely painted over the +entrance of his lodge. The child +<ins title="In later volumes, Parkman added the qualifier 'in most cases.'"> +belongs to the clan,</ins> not of the father, but of the mother. +In other words, descent, not of the totem alone, but of all rank, titles, +and possessions, is through the female. The son of a chief can never +be a chief by hereditary title, though he may become so by force of +personal influence or achievement. Neither can he inherit from his +father so much as a tobacco-pipe. All possessions alike pass of right +to the brothers of the chief, or to the sons of his sisters, since these +are all sprung from a common mother. This rule of descent was noticed +by Champlain among the Hurons in 1615. That excellent observer refers +it to an origin which is doubtless its true one. The child may not be +the son of his reputed father, but must be the son of his mother,—a +consideration of more than ordinary force in an Indian community. +<a href="#footer_0-44"><span class="superscript">[44]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00251" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-44" name="footer_0-44"></a> + <span class="superscript">[44]</span> + "Les enfans ne succedent iamais aux biens et dignitez de leurs peres, + doubtant comme i'ay dit de leur geniteur, mais bien font-ils leurs + successeurs et heritiers, les enfans de leurs sœurs, et desquels + ils sont asseurez d'estre yssus et sortis."—Champlain (1627), + 91.</p> + <p id="id00252"> + Captain John Smith had observed the same, several years before, + among the tribes of Virginia: "For the Crowne, their heyres + inherite not, but the first heyres of the Sisters."—<i>True + Relation</i>, 43 (ed. Deane). <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00253"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lii" id="Page_lii">lii</a></span> +<a id="id00253a" name="id00253a"></a> +This system of clanship, with the rule of descent +<ins title="In later volumes, Parkman wrote 'usually belonging to it' instead of the more precise 'inseparable from it.'"> +inseparable from it,</ins> was of very wide prevalence. Indeed, it is +more than probable that close observation would have detected it in every +tribe east of the Mississippi; while there is positive evidence of its +existence in by far the greater number. It is found also among the Dahcotah +and other tribes west of the Mississippi; and there is reason to believe it +universally prevalent as far as the Rocky Mountains, and even beyond them. +The fact that with most of these hordes there is little property worth +transmission, and that the most influential becomes chief, with little +regard to inheritance, has blinded casual observers to the existence of +this curious system.</p> + +<p id="id00254"> +It was found in full development among the Creeks, Choctaws, Cherokees, +and other Southern tribes, including that remarkable people, the Natchez, +who, judged by their religious and political institutions, seem a +detached offshoot of the Toltec family. It is no less conspicuous among +the roving Algonquins of the extreme North, where the number of totems is +almost countless. Everywhere it formed the foundation of the polity of +all the tribes, where a polity could be said to exist.</p> + +<p id="id00255"> +The Franciscans and Jesuits, close students of the languages and +superstitions of the Indians, were by no means so zealous to analyze +their organization and government. In the middle of the seventeenth +century the Hurons as a nation had ceased to exist, and their political +portraiture, as handed down to us, is careless and unfinished. Yet some +decisive features are plainly shown. The Huron nation was a confederacy +of four distinct contiguous nations, afterwards increased to five by the +addition of the Tionnontates;—it was divided into clans;—it was +governed by chiefs, whose office was hereditary through the female;—the +power of these chiefs, though +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_liii" id="Page_liii">liii</a></span> +great, was wholly of a persuasive or +advisory character;—there were two principal chiefs, one for peace, +the other for war;—there were chiefs assigned to special national +functions, as the charge of the great Feast of the Dead, the direction of +trading voyages to other nations, etc.;—there were numerous other chiefs, +equal in rank, but very unequal in influence, since the measure of their +influence depended on the measure of their personal ability;—each nation +of the confederacy had a separate organization, but at certain periods +grand councils of the united nations were held, at which were present, +not chiefs only, but also a great concourse of the people; and at these +and other councils the chiefs and principal men voted on proposed +measures by means of small sticks or reeds, the opinion of the plurality +ruling. +<a href="#footer_0-45"><span class="superscript">[45]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00256" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-45" name="footer_0-45"></a> + <span class="superscript">[45]</span> + These facts are gathered here and there from Champlain, Sagard, + Bressani, and the Jesuit <i>Relations</i> prior to 1650. Of + the Jesuits, Brébeuf is the most full and satisfactory. + Lafitau and Charlevoix knew the Huron institutions only through + others.</p> + <p id="id00257"> + The names of the four confederate Huron nations were the Ataronchronons, + Attignenonghac, Attignaouentans, and Ahrendarrhonons. There was also a + subordinate "nation" called Tohotaenrat, which had but one town. (See + the map of the Huron Country.) They all bore the name of some animal or + other object: thus the Attignaouentans were the Nation of the Bear. + As the clans are usually named after animals, this makes confusion, + and may easily lead to error. The Bear Nation was the principal member + of the league. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p><br /></p> +<h3 class="double-space-top" id="id00258">THE IROQUOIS.</h3> + +<p id="id00259"> +<span class="smcap">The</span> +Iroquois were a people far more conspicuous in history, and their +institutions are not yet extinct. In early and recent times, they have +been closely studied, and no little light has been cast upon a subject as +difficult and obscure as it is curious. By comparing the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_liv" id="Page_liv">liv</a></span> +statements of observers, old and new, the character of their singular +organization becomes sufficiently clear. +<a href="#footer_0-46"><span class="superscript">[46]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00260" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-46" name="footer_0-46"></a> + <span class="superscript">[46]</span> + Among modern students of Iroquois institutions, a place far in advance + of all others is due to Lewis H. Morgan, himself an Iroquois by adoption, + and intimate with the race from boyhood. His work, <i>The League of the + Iroquois</i>, is a production of most thorough and able research, + conducted under peculiar advantages, and with the aid of an efficient + co-laborer, Hasanoanda (Ely S. Parker), an educated and highly + intelligent Iroquois of the Seneca nation. Though often differing + widely from Mr. Morgan's conclusions, I cannot bear a too emphatic + testimony to the value of his researches. The <i>Notes on the + Iroquois</i> of Mr. H. R. Schoolcraft also contain some interesting + facts; but here, as in all Mr. Schoolcraft's productions, the + reader must scrupulously reserve his right of private judgment. + None of the old writers are so satisfactory as Lafitau. His work, + <i>Mœurs des Sauvages Ameriquains comparées aux + Mœurs des Premiers Temps</i>, relates chiefly to the + Iroquois and Hurons: the basis for his + account of the former being his own observations and those of Father + Julien Garnier, who was a missionary among them more than sixty years, + from his novitiate to his death.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00261"> +Both reason and tradition point to the conclusion, that the Iroquois +formed originally one undivided people. Sundered, like countless other +tribes, by dissension, caprice, or the necessities of the hunter life, +they separated into five distinct nations, cantoned from east to west +along the centre of New York, in the following order: Mohawks, Oneidas, +Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas. There was discord among them; wars followed, +and they lived in mutual fear, each ensconced in its palisaded villages. +At length, says tradition, a celestial being, incarnate on earth, +counselled them to compose their strife and unite in a league of defence +and aggression. Another personage, wholly mortal, yet wonderfully +endowed, a renowned warrior and a mighty magician, stands, with his hair +of writhing snakes, grotesquely conspicuous through the dim light of +tradition at this birth of Iroquois nationality. This was Atotarho, +a chief of the Onondagas; and from this honored source has sprung a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lv" id="Page_lv">lv</a></span> +long line of chieftains, heirs not to the blood alone, but to the name of +their great predecessor. A few years since, there lived in Onondaga +Hollow a handsome Indian boy on whom the dwindled remnant of the nation +looked with pride as their destined Atotarho. With earthly and celestial +aid the league was consummated, and through all the land the forests +trembled at the name of the Iroquois.</p> + +<p id="id00262">The Iroquois people was divided into eight clans. When the original +stock was sundered into five parts, each of these clans was also sundered +into five parts; and as, by the principle already indicated, the clans +were intimately mingled in every village, hamlet, and cabin, each one of +the five nations had its portion of each of the eight clans. +<a href="#footer_0-47"><span class="superscript">[47]</span></a> +When the league was formed, these separate portions readily resumed their +ancient tie of fraternity. Thus, of the Turtle clan, all the members +became brothers again, nominal members of one family, whether Mohawks, +Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, or Senecas; and so, too, of the remaining +clans. All the Iroquois, irrespective of nationality, were therefore +divided into eight families, each tracing its descent to a common mother, +and each designated by its distinctive +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lvi" id="Page_lvi">lvi</a></span> +emblem or <i>totem</i>. This connection +of clan or family was exceedingly strong, and by it the five nations of +the league were linked together as by an eightfold chain.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00263" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-47" name="footer_0-47"></a> + <span class="superscript">[47]</span> + With a view to clearness, the above statement is made categorical. + It requires, however, to be qualified. It is not quite certain, that, + at the formation of the confederacy, there were eight clans, though there + is positive proof of the existence of seven. Neither is it certain, that, + at the separation, every clan was represented in every nation. Among the + Mohawks and Oneidas there is no positive proof of the existence of more + than three clans,—the Wolf, Bear, and Tortoise; though there is + presumptive evidence of the existence of several others.—See Morgan, 81, + note.</p> + <p id="id00264"> + The eight clans of the Iroquois were as follows: Wolf, Bear, Beaver, + Tortoise, Deer, Snipe, Heron, Hawk. (Morgan, 79.) The clans of the + Snipe and the Heron are the same designated in an early French document + as <i>La famille du Petit Pluvier</i> and <i>La famille du Grand + Pluvier</i>. (<i>New York Colonial Documents</i>, IX. 47.) The + anonymous author of this document adds a ninth clan, that of the Potato, + meaning the wild Indian potato, <i>Glycine apios</i>. This clan, if + it existed, was very inconspicuous, and of little importance.</p> + <p id="id00265"> + Remarkable analogies exist between Iroquois clanship and that of other + tribes. The eight clans of the Iroquois were separated into two + divisions, four in each. Originally, marriage was interdicted between + all the members of the same division, but in time the interdict was + limited to the members of the individual clans. Another tribe, the + Choctaws, remote from the Iroquois, and radically different in language, + had also eight clans, similarly divided, with a similar interdict of + marriage.—Gallatin, <i>Synopsis</i>, 109.</p> + <p id="id00266"> + The Creeks, according to the account given by their old chief, + Sekopechi, to Mr. D. W. Eakins, were divided into nine clans, + named in most cases from animals: clanship being transmitted, + as usual, through the female. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00267"> +The clans were by no means equal in numbers, influence, or honor. +So marked were the distinctions among them, that some of the early +writers recognize only the three most conspicuous,—those of the Tortoise, +the Bear, and the Wolf. To some of the clans, in each nation, belonged +the right of giving a chief to the nation and to the league. Others had +the right of giving three, or, in one case, four chiefs; while others +could give none. As Indian clanship was but an extension of the family +relation, these chiefs were, in a certain sense, hereditary; but the law +of inheritance, though binding, was extremely elastic, and capable of +stretching to the farthest limits of the clan. The chief was almost +invariably succeeded by a near relative, always through the female, +as a brother by the same mother, or a nephew by the sister's side. +But if these were manifestly unfit, they were passed over, and a chief +was chosen at a council of the clan from among remoter kindred. In these +cases, the successor is said to have been nominated by the matron of the +late chief's household. +<a href="#footer_0-48"><span class="superscript">[48]</span></a> +Be this as it may, the choice was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lvii" id="Page_lvii">lvii</a></span> +never adverse to the popular inclination. The new chief was +"raised up," or installed, by a formal council of the sachems of the +league; and on entering upon his office, he dropped his own name, and +assumed that which, since the formation of the league, had belonged to +this especial chieftainship.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-48" name="footer_0-48"></a> + <span class="superscript">[48]</span> + Lafitau, I. 471. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00268"> +The number of these principal chiefs, or, as they have been called by way +of distinction, sachems, varied in the several nations from eight to +fourteen. The sachems of the five nations, fifty in all, assembled in +council, formed the government of the confederacy. All met as equals, +but a peculiar dignity was ever attached to the Atotarho of the Onondagas.</p> + +<p id="id00269"> +There was a class of subordinate chiefs, in no sense hereditary, but +rising to office by address, ability, or valor. Yet the rank was clearly +defined, and the new chief installed at a formal council. This class +embodied, as might be supposed, the best talent of the nation, and the +most prominent warriors and orators of the Iroquois have belonged to it. +In its character and functions, however, it was purely civil. Like the +sachems, these chiefs held their councils, and exercised an influence +proportionate to their number and abilities.</p> + +<p id="id00270"> +There was another council, between which and that of the subordinate +chiefs the line of demarcation seems not to have been very definite. +The Jesuit Lafitau calls it "the senate." Familiar with the Iroquois at +the height of their prosperity, he describes it as the central and +controlling power, so far, at least, as the separate nations were +concerned. In its character it was essentially popular, but popular in +the best sense, and one which can find its application only in a small +community. Any man took part in it whose age and experience qualified +him to do so. It was merely the gathered wisdom of the nation. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lviii" id="Page_lviii">lviii</a></span> +Lafitau +compares it to the Roman Senate, in the early and rude age of the +Republic, and affirms that it loses nothing by the comparison. He thus +describes it: "It is a greasy assemblage, sitting <i>sur leur derrière</i>, +crouched like apes, their knees as high as their ears, or lying, some on +their bellies, some on their backs, each with a pipe in his mouth, +discussing affairs of state with as much coolness and gravity as the +Spanish Junta or the Grand Council of Venice." +<a href="#footer_0-49"><span class="superscript">[49]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-49" name="footer_0-49"></a> + <span class="superscript">[49]</span> + Lafitau, I. 478.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00271"> +The young warriors had also their councils; so, too, had the women; and +the opinions and wishes of each were represented by means of deputies +before the "senate," or council of the old men, as well as before the +grand confederate council of the sachems.</p> + +<p id="id00272"> +The government of this unique republic resided wholly in councils. +By councils all questions were settled, all regulations +established,—social, political, military, and religious. +The war-path, the chase, the council-fire,—in these was the +life of the Iroquois; and it is hard to say to which of the three +he was most devoted.</p> + +<p id="id00273"> +The great council of the fifty sachems formed, as we have seen, the +government of the league. Whenever a subject arose before any of the +nations, of importance enough to demand its assembling, the sachems of +that nation might summon their colleagues by means of runners, bearing +messages and belts of wampum. The usual place of meeting was the valley +of Onondaga, the political as well as geographical centre of the +confederacy. Thither, if the matter were one of deep and general +interest, not the sachems alone, but the greater part of the population, +gathered from east and west, swarming in the hospitable lodges of the +town, or bivouacked by thousands in the surrounding fields and forests. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lix" id="Page_lix">lix</a></span> +While the sachems deliberated in the council-house, the chiefs and old +men, the warriors, and often the women, were holding their respective +councils apart; and their opinions, laid by their deputies before the +council of sachems, were never without influence on its decisions.</p> + +<p id="id00274"> +The utmost order and deliberation reigned in the council, with rigorous +adherence to the Indian notions of parliamentary propriety. The +conference opened with an address to the spirits, or the chief of all the +spirits. There was no heat in debate. No speaker interrupted another. +Each gave his opinion in turn, supporting it with what reason or rhetoric +he could command,—but not until he had stated the subject of discussion +in full, to prove that he understood it, repeating also the arguments, +<i>pro</i> and <i>con</i>, of previous speakers. Thus their debates were +excessively prolix; and the consumption of tobacco was immoderate. The result, +however, was a thorough sifting of the matter in hand; while the +practised astuteness of these savage politicians was a marvel to their +civilized contemporaries. "It is by a most subtle policy," says Lafitau, +"that they have taken the ascendant over the other nations, divided and +overcome the most warlike, made themselves a terror to the most remote, +and now hold a peaceful neutrality between the French and English, +courted and feared by both." +<a href="#footer_0-50"><span class="superscript">[50]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00275" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-50" name="footer_0-50"></a> + <span class="superscript">[50]</span> + Lafitau, I. 480.—Many other French writers speak to the + same effect. The following are the words of the soldier + historian, La Potherie, after describing the organization of + the league: "C'est donc là cette politique qui les unit + si bien, à peu près comme tous les ressorts d'une + horloge, qui par une liaison admirable de toutes les parties qui + les composent, contribuent toutes unanimement au merveilleux + effet qui en resulte."—<i>Hist. de l'Amérique + Septentrionale</i>, III. 32.—He adds: "Les François + ont avoüé eux-mêmes qu'ils étoient + nez pour la guerre, & quelques maux qu'ils nous ayent faits + nous les avons toujours estimez."—<i>Ibid</i>., 2.—La + Potherie's book was published in 1722.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00276"> +Unlike the Hurons, they required an entire unanimity +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lx" id="Page_lx">lx</a></span> +in their decisions. +The ease and frequency with which a requisition seemingly so difficult +was fulfilled afford a striking illustration of Indian nature,—on one +side, so stubborn, tenacious, and impracticable; on the other, so pliant +and acquiescent. An explanation of this harmony is to be found also in +an intense spirit of nationality: for never since the days of Sparta were +individual life and national life more completely fused into one.</p> + +<p id="id00277"> +The sachems of the league were likewise, as we have seen, sachems of +their respective nations; yet they rarely spoke in the councils of the +subordinate chiefs and old men, except to present subjects of discussion. +<a href="#footer_0-51"><span class="superscript">[51]</span></a> +Their influence in these councils was, however, +great, and even paramount; for they commonly succeeded in securing to +their interest some of the most dexterous and influential of the conclave, +through whom, while they themselves remained in the background, they +managed the debates. +<a href="#footer_0-52"><span class="superscript">[52]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00278" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-51" name="footer_0-51"></a> + <span class="superscript">[51]</span> + Lafitau, I. 479. <br /> + <a id="footer_0-52" name="footer_0-52"></a> + <span class="superscript">[52]</span> + The following from Lafitau is very characteristic: "Ce que je dis de + leur zèle pour le bien public n'est cependant pas si + universel, que plusieurs ne pensent à leur interêts + particuliers, & que les Chefs (<i>sachems</i>) principalement ne + fassent joüer plusieurs ressorts secrets pour venir à + bout de leurs intrigues. Il y en a tel, dont l'adresse jouë si + bien à coup sûr, qu'il fait déliberer le Conseil + plusieurs jours de suite, sur une matière dont la + détermination est arrêtée entre lui & les + principales têtes avant d'avoir été mise sur le + tapis. Cependant comme les Chefs s'entre-regardent, & qu'aucun + ne veut paroître se donner une superiorité qui puisse + piquer la jalousie, ils se ménagent dans les Conseils plus + que les autres; & quoiqu'ils en soient l'ame, leur politique + les oblige à y parler peu, & à écouter + plûtôt le sentiment d'autrui, qu'à y dire le + leur; mais chacun a un homme à sa main, qui est + comme une espèce de Brûlot, & qui étant + sans consequence pour sa personne hazarde en pleine liberté + tout ce qu'il juge à propos, selon qu'il l'a concerté + avec le Chef même pour qui il agit."—<i>Mœurs + des Sauvages</i>, I. 481.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00279"> +There was a class of men among the Iroquois always put forward on public +occasions to speak the mind of the nation or defend its interests. +Nearly all of them were of the number of the subordinate chiefs. Nature +and training +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxi" id="Page_lxi">lxi</a></span> +had fitted them for public speaking, and they were deeply +versed in the history and traditions of the league. They were in fact +professed orators, high in honor and influence among the people. To a +huge stock of conventional metaphors, the use of which required nothing +but practice, they often added an astute intellect, an astonishing memory, +and an eloquence which deserved the name.</p> + +<p id="id00280"> +In one particular, the training of these savage politicians was never +surpassed. They had no art of writing to record events, or preserve the +stipulations of treaties. Memory, therefore, was tasked to the utmost, +and developed to an extraordinary degree. They had various devices for +aiding it, such as bundles of sticks, and that system of signs, emblems, +and rude pictures, which they shared with other tribes. Their famous +wampum-belts were so many mnemonic signs, each standing for some act, +speech, treaty, or clause of a treaty. These represented the public +archives, and were divided among various custodians, each charged with +the memory and interpretation of those assigned to him. The meaning of +the belts was from time to time expounded in their councils. In +conferences with them, nothing more astonished the French, Dutch, and +English officials than the precision with which, before replying to their +addresses, the Indian orators repeated them point by point.</p> + +<p id="id00281"> +It was only in rare cases that crime among the Iroquois or Hurons was +punished by public authority. Murder, the most heinous offence, except +witchcraft, recognized among them, was rare. If the slayer and the slain +were of the same household or clan, the affair was regarded as a family +quarrel, to be settled by the immediate kin on both sides. This, under +the pressure of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxii" id="Page_lxii">lxii</a></span> +public opinion, was commonly effected without bloodshed, +by presents given in atonement. But if the murderer and his victim were +of different clans or different nations, still more, if the slain was a +foreigner, the whole community became interested to prevent the discord +or the war which might arise. All directed their efforts, not to bring +the murderer to punishment, but to satisfy the injured parties by a +vicarious atonement. +<a href="#footer_0-53"><span class="superscript">[53]</span></a> +To this end, contributions were made and presents collected. +Their number and value were determined by established usage. Among the +Hurons, thirty presents of very considerable value were the price of a +man's life. That of a woman's was fixed at forty, by reason of her +weakness, and because on her depended the continuance and increase of the +population. This was when the slain belonged to the nation. If of a +foreign tribe, his death demanded a higher compensation, since it involved +the danger of war. +<a href="#footer_0-54"><span class="superscript">[54]</span></a> +These presents were offered in solemn council, with prescribed +formalities. The relatives of the slain might refuse them, if they chose, +and in this case the murderer was given them as a slave; but they might +by no means kill him, since, in so doing, they would incur public censure, +and be compelled in their turn to make atonement. Besides the principal +gifts, there was a great number of less value, all symbolical, and each +delivered with a set form of words: as, "By this we wash out the blood of +the slain: By this we cleanse his wound: By this we clothe his corpse +with a new shirt: By this we place food on his grave": and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxiii" id="Page_lxiii">lxiii</a></span> +so, in endless +prolixity, through particulars without number. +<a href="#footer_0-55"><span class="superscript">[55]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00282" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-53" name="footer_0-53"></a> + <span class="superscript">[53]</span> + Lalemant, while inveighing against a practice which made the + public, and not the criminal, answerable for an offence, + admits that heinous crimes were more rare than in France, where the + guilty party himself was punished.—<i>Lettre au P. Provincial, + 15 May, 1645</i>.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-54" name="footer_0-54"></a> + <span class="superscript">[54]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1648</i>, 80.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-55" name="footer_0-55"></a> + <span class="superscript">[55]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1648</i>, gives a description of one of + these ceremonies at length. Those of the Iroquois on such occasions were + similar. Many other tribes had the same custom, but attended with much + less form and ceremony. Compare Perrot, 73-76. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00283"> +The Hurons were notorious thieves; and perhaps the Iroquois were not much +better, though the contrary has been asserted. Among both, the robbed +was permitted not only to retake his property by force, if he could, +but to strip the robber of all he had. This apparently acted as a +restraint in favor only of the strong, leaving the weak a prey to the +plunderer; but here the tie of family and clan intervened to aid him. +Relatives and clansmen espoused the quarrel of him who could not right +himself. +<a href="#footer_0-56"><span class="superscript">[56]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00284" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-56" name="footer_0-56"></a> + <span class="superscript">[56]</span> + The proceedings for detecting thieves were regular and methodical, + after established customs. According to Bressani, no thief ever + inculpated the innocent.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00285"> +Witches, with whom the Hurons and Iroquois were grievously infested, +were objects of utter abomination to both, and any one might kill them at +any time. If any person was guilty of treason, or by his character and +conduct made himself dangerous or obnoxious to the public, the council of +chiefs and old men held a secret session on his case, condemned him to +death, and appointed some young man to kill him. The executioner, +watching his opportunity, brained or stabbed him unawares, usually in the +dark porch of one of the houses. Acting by authority, he could not be +held answerable; and the relatives of the slain had no redress, even if +they desired it. The council, however, commonly obviated all difficulty +in advance, by charging the culprit with witchcraft, thus alienating his +best friends.</p> + +<p id="id00286"> +The military organization of the Iroquois was exceedingly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxiv" id="Page_lxiv">lxiv</a></span> +imperfect and +derived all its efficiency from their civil union and their personal +prowess. There were two hereditary war-chiefs, both belonging to the +Senecas; but, except on occasions of unusual importance, it does not +appear that they took a very active part in the conduct of wars. The +Iroquois lived in a state of chronic warfare with nearly all the +surrounding tribes, except a few from whom they exacted tribute. Any man +of sufficient personal credit might raise a war-party when he chose. +He proclaimed his purpose through the village, sang his war-songs, +struck his hatchet into the war-post, and danced the war-dance. Any who +chose joined him; and the party usually took up their march at once, +with a little parched-corn-meal and maple-sugar as their sole provision. +On great occasions, there was concert of action,—the various parties +meeting at a rendezvous, and pursuing the march together. The leaders of +war-parties, like the orators, belonged, in nearly all cases, to the +class of subordinate chiefs. The Iroquois had a discipline suited to the +dark and tangled forests where they fought. Here they were a terrible +foe: in an open country, against a trained European force, they were, +despite their ferocious valor, far less formidable.</p> + +<p id="id00287"> +In observing this singular organization, one is struck by the incongruity +of its spirit and its form. A body of hereditary oligarchs was the head +of the nation, yet the nation was essentially democratic. Not that the +Iroquois were levellers. None were more prompt to acknowledge +superiority and defer to it, whether established by usage and +prescription, or the result of personal endowment. Yet each man, whether +of high or low degree, had a voice in the conduct of affairs, and was +never for a moment divorced from his wild spirit of independence. +Where there was no property worthy the name, authority +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxv" id="Page_lxv">lxv</a></span> +had no fulcrum and +no hold. The constant aim of sachems and chiefs was to exercise it +without seeming to do so. They had no insignia of office. They were no +richer than others; indeed, they were often poorer, spending their +substance in largesses and bribes to strengthen their influence. They +hunted and fished for subsistence; they were as foul, greasy, and +unsavory as the rest; yet in them, withal, was often seen a native +dignity of bearing, which ochre and bear's grease could not hide, and +which comported well with their strong, symmetrical, and sometimes +majestic proportions.</p> + +<p id="id00288"> +To the institutions, traditions, rites, usages, and festivals of the +league the Iroquois was inseparably wedded. He clung to them with Indian +tenacity; and he clings to them still. His political fabric was one of +ancient ideas and practices, crystallized into regular and enduring +forms. In its component parts it has nothing peculiar to itself. +All its elements are found in other tribes: most of them belong to the +whole Indian race. Undoubtedly there was a distinct and definite effort +of legislation; but Iroquois legislation invented nothing. Like all +sound legislation, it built of materials already prepared. It organized +the chaotic past, and gave concrete forms to Indian nature itself. +The people have dwindled and decayed; but, banded by its ties of clan and +kin, the league, in feeble miniature, still subsists, and the degenerate +Iroquois looks back with a mournful pride to the glory of the past.</p> + +<p id="id00289"> +Would the Iroquois, left undisturbed to work out their own destiny, +ever have emerged from the savage state? Advanced as they were beyond +most other American tribes, there is no indication whatever of a tendency +to overpass the confines of a wild hunter and warrior life. They were +inveterately attached to it, impracticable +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxvi" id="Page_lxvi">lxvi</a></span> +conservatists of barbarism, +and in ferocity and cruelty they matched the worst of their race. +Nor did the power of expansion apparently belonging to their system ever +produce much result. Between the years 1712 and 1715, the Tuscaroras, +a kindred people, were admitted into the league as a sixth nation; but +they were never admitted on equal terms. Long after, in the period of +their decline, several other tribes were announced as new members of the +league; but these admissions never took effect. The Iroquois were always +reluctant to receive other tribes, or parts of tribes, collectively, +into the precincts of the "Long House." Yet they constantly practised a +system of adoptions, from which, though cruel and savage, they drew great +advantages. Their prisoners of war, when they had burned and butchered +as many of them as would serve to sate their own ire and that of their +women, were divided, man by man, woman by woman, and child by child, +adopted into different families and clans, and thus incorporated into the +nation. It was by this means, and this alone, that they could offset the +losses of their incessant wars. Early in the eighteenth century, and +even long before, a vast proportion of their population consisted of +adopted prisoners. +<a href="#footer_0-57"><span class="superscript">[57]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00290" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-57" name="footer_0-57"></a> + <span class="superscript">[57]</span> + <i>Relation</i>, 1660, 7 (anonymous). The Iroquois were at the height + of their prosperity about the year 1650. Morgan reckons their number at + this time at 25,000 souls; but this is far too high an estimate. The + author of the <i>Relation</i> of 1660 makes their whole number of + warriors 2,200. Le Mercier, in the <i>Relation</i> of 1665, says 2,350. + In the Journal of Greenhalgh, an Englishman who visited them in 1677, + their warriors are set down at 2,150. Du Chesneau, in 1681, estimates + them at 2,000; De la Barre, in 1684, at 2,600, they having been + strengthened by adoptions. A memoir addressed to the Marquis de + Seignelay, in 1687, again makes them 2,000. (See <i>N. Y. Col. + Docs.</i>, IX. 162, 196, 321.) These estimates imply a total population + of ten or twelve thousand.</p> + <p id="id00291"> + The anonymous writer of the <i>Relation</i> of 1660 may well remark: + "It is marvellous that so few should make so great a havoc, and + strike such terror into so many tribes."<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00292"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxvii" id="Page_lxvii">lxvii</a></span> +It remains to speak of the religious and superstitious ideas which so +deeply influenced Indian life.</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h3 class="double-space-top" id="id00293">RELIGION AND SUPERSTITIONS.</h3> + +<p id="id00294"> +<span class="smcap">The</span> +religious belief of the North-American Indians seems, on a first view, +anomalous and contradictory. It certainly is so, if we adopt the popular +impression. Romance, Poetry, and Rhetoric point, on the one hand, +to the august conception of a one all-ruling Deity, a Great Spirit, +omniscient and omnipresent; and we are called to admire the untutored +intellect which could conceive a thought too vast for Socrates and Plato. +On the other hand, we find a chaos of degrading, ridiculous, and +incoherent superstitions. A closer examination will show that the +contradiction is more apparent than real. We will begin with the lowest +forms of Indian belief, and thence trace it upward to the highest +conceptions to which the unassisted mind of the savage attained.</p> + +<p id="id00295"> +To the Indian, the material world is sentient and intelligent. Birds, +beasts, and reptiles have ears for human prayers, and are endowed with an +influence on human destiny. A mysterious and inexplicable power resides +in inanimate things. They, too, can listen to the voice of man, and +influence his life for evil or for good. Lakes, rivers, and waterfalls +are sometimes the dwelling-place of spirits; but more frequently they are +themselves living beings, to be propitiated by prayers and offerings. +The lake has a soul; and so has the river, and the cataract. Each can +hear the words of men, and each can be pleased or offended. In the +silence of a forest, the gloom of a deep ravine, resides a living mystery, +indefinite, but redoubtable. Through all the works of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxviii" id="Page_lxviii">lxviii</a></span> +Nature or of man, +nothing exists, however seemingly trivial, that may not be endowed with a +secret power for blessing or for bane.</p> + +<p id="id00296"> +Men and animals are closely akin. Each species of animal has its great +archetype, its progenitor or king, who is supposed to exist somewhere, +prodigious in size, though in shape and nature like his subjects. +A belief prevails, vague, but perfectly apparent, that men themselves owe +their first parentage to beasts, birds, or reptiles, as bears, wolves, +tortoises, or cranes; and the names of the totemic clans, borrowed in +nearly every case from animals, are the reflection of this idea. +<a href="#footer_0-58"><span class="superscript">[58]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00297" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-58" name="footer_0-58"></a> + <span class="superscript">[58]</span> + This belief occasionally takes a perfectly definite shape. There was a + tradition among Northern and Western tribes, that men were created from + the carcasses of beasts, birds, and fishes, by Manabozho, a mythical + personage, to be described hereafter. The Amikouas, or People of the + Beaver, an Algonquin tribe of Lake Huron, claimed descent from the + carcass of the great original beaver, or father of the beavers. They + believed that the rapids and cataracts on the French River and the Upper + Ottawa were caused by dams made by their amphibious ancestor. (See the + tradition in Perrot, <i>Mémoire sur les Mœurs, + Coustumes et Relligion des Sauvages de + l'Amérique Septentrionale</i>, p. 20.) Charlevoix tells the same + story. Each Indian was supposed to inherit something of the nature of + the animal whence he sprung.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00298"> +An Indian hunter was always anxious to propitiate the animals he sought +to kill. He has often been known to address a wounded bear in a long +harangue of apology. +<a href="#footer_0-59"><span class="superscript">[59]</span></a> + The bones of the beaver were treated +with especial tenderness, and carefully kept from the dogs, lest the +spirit of the dead beaver, or his surviving brethren, should take +offence. +<a href="#footer_0-60"><span class="superscript">[60]</span></a> +This solicitude was not confined to animals, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxix" id="Page_lxix">lxix</a></span> +but extended to +inanimate things. A remarkable example occurred among the Hurons, +a people comparatively advanced, who, to propitiate their fishing-nets, +and persuade them to do their office with effect, married them every year +to two young girls of the tribe, with a ceremony more formal than that +observed in the case of mere human wedlock. +<a href="#footer_0-61"><span class="superscript">[61]</span></a> +The fish, too, no less +than the nets, must be propitiated; and to this end they were addressed +every evening from the fishing-camp by one of the party chosen for that +function, who exhorted them to take courage and be caught, assuring them +that the utmost respect should be shown to their bones. The harangue, +which took place after the evening meal, was made in solemn form; and +while it lasted, the whole party, except the speaker, were required to +lie on their backs, silent and motionless, around the fire. +<a href="#footer_0-62"><span class="superscript">[62]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00299" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-59" name="footer_0-59"></a> + <span class="superscript">[59]</span> + McKinney, <i>Tour to the Lakes</i>, 284, mentions the + discomposure of a party of Indians when shown a stuffed moose. + Thinking that its spirit would be offended at the indignity + shown to its remains, they surrounded it, making apologetic + speeches, and blowing tobacco-smoke at it as a propitiatory + offering.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-60" name="footer_0-60"></a> + <span class="superscript">[60]</span> + This superstition was very prevalent, and numerous examples + of it occur in old and recent writers, from Father Le Jeune + to Captain Carver.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-61" name="footer_0-61"></a> + <span class="superscript">[61]</span> + There are frequent allusions to this ceremony in the early writers. + The Algonquins of the Ottawa practised it, as well as the Hurons. + Lalemant, in his chapter "Du Regne de Satan en ces Contrées" + (<i>Relation des Hurons, 1639</i>), says that it took place yearly, + in the middle of March. As it was indispensable that the brides + should be virgins, mere children were chosen. The net was held + between them; and its spirit, or <i>oki</i>, was harangued by one + of the chiefs, who exhorted him to do his part in furnishing the + tribe with food. Lalemant was told that the spirit of the net had + once appeared in human form to the Algonquins, complaining that he + had lost his wife, and warning them, that, unless they could find + him another equally immaculate, they would catch no more fish. <br /> + <a id="footer_0-62" name="footer_0-62"></a> + <span class="superscript">[62]</span> + Sagard, <i>Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons</i>, 257. + Other old writers make a similar statement. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00301"> +Besides ascribing life and intelligence to the material world, animate +and inanimate, the Indian believes in supernatural existences, known among +the Algonquins as <i>Manitous</i>, and among the Iroquois and Hurons as <i>Okies</i> +or <i>Otkons</i>. These words comprehend all forms of supernatural being, +from the highest to the lowest, with the exception, possibly, of certain +diminutive fairies or hobgoblins, and certain giants and anomalous +monsters, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxx" id="Page_lxx">lxx</a></span> +which appear under various forms, grotesque and horrible, +in the Indian fireside legends. +<a href="#footer_0-63"><span class="superscript">[63]</span></a> + There are local manitous of +streams, rocks, mountains, cataracts, and forests. The conception of +these beings betrays, for the most part, a striking poverty of +imagination. In nearly every case, when they reveal themselves to mortal +sight, they bear the semblance of beasts, reptiles, or birds, in shapes +unusual or distorted. +<a href="#footer_0-64"><span class="superscript">[64]</span></a> + There are other manitous without local habitation, +some good, some evil, countless in number and indefinite in attributes. +They fill the world, and control the destinies of men,—that is to say, +of Indians: for the primitive Indian holds that the white man lives under +a spiritual rule distinct from that which governs his own fate. These +beings, also, appear for the most part in the shape of animals. +Sometimes, however, they assume human proportions; but more frequently +they take the form of stones, which, being broken, are found full of +living blood and flesh.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-63" name="footer_0-63"></a> + <span class="superscript">[63]</span> + Many tribes have tales of diminutive beings, which, in + the absence of a better word, may be called fairies. + In the <i>Travels of Lewis and Clarke</i>, there is mention + of a hill on the Missouri, supposed to be haunted by + them. These Western fairies correspond to the <i>Puck + Wudj Ininee</i> of Ojibwa tradition. As an example + of the monsters alluded to, see the Saginaw story of + the <i>Weendigoes</i>, in Schoolcraft, <i>Algic + Researches</i>, II. 105.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-64" name="footer_0-64"></a> + <span class="superscript">[64]</span> + The figure of a large bird is perhaps the most + common,—as, for example, the good spirit of + Rock Island: "He was white, with wings like a swan, + but ten times larger."—<i>Autobiography of + Blackhawk</i>, 70.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00302"> +Each primitive Indian has his guardian manitou, to whom he looks for +counsel, guidance, and protection. These spiritual allies are gained by +the following process. At the age of fourteen or fifteen, the Indian boy +blackens his face, retires to some solitary place, and remains for days +without food. Superstitious expectancy and the exhaustion of abstinence +rarely fail of their results. His sleep is haunted by visions, and the +form which first or most often appears is that of his guardian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxi" id="Page_lxxi">lxxi</a></span> +manitou,—a beast, a bird, a fish, a serpent, or some other object, +animate or inanimate. An eagle or a bear is the vision of a destined +warrior; a wolf, of a successful hunter; while a serpent foreshadows +the future medicine-man, or, according to others, portends disaster. +<a href="#footer_0-65"><span class="superscript">[65]</span></a> +The young Indian thenceforth wears about his person the object revealed in +his dream, or some portion of it,—as a bone, a feather, a snake-skin, +or a tuft of hair. This, in the modern language of the forest and +prairie, is known as his "medicine." The Indian yields to it a sort of +worship, propitiates it with offerings of tobacco, thanks it in +prosperity, and upbraids it in disaster. +<a href="#footer_0-66"><span class="superscript">[66]</span></a> +If his medicine fails to +bring the desired success, he will sometimes discard it and adopt +another. The superstition now becomes mere fetich-worship, since the +Indian regards the mysterious object which he carries about him rather as +an embodiment than as a representative of a supernatural power.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00303" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-65" name="footer_0-65"></a> + <span class="superscript">[65]</span> + Compare Cass, in <i>North-American Review</i>, Second Series, XIII. 100. + A turkey-buzzard, according to him, is the vision of a medicine-man. + I once knew an old Dahcotah chief, who was greatly respected, but had + never been to war, though belonging to a family of peculiarly warlike + propensities. The reason was, that, in his initiatory fast, he had + dreamed of an antelope,—the peace-spirit of his people.</p> + <p id="id00304"> + Women fast, as well as men,—always at the time of transition from + childhood to maturity. In the <i>Narrative</i> of John Tanner, there is + an account of an old woman who had fasted, in her youth, for ten days, + and throughout her life placed the firmest faith in the visions which + had appeared to her at that time. Among the Northern Algonquins, the + practice, down to a recent day, was almost universal.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-66" name="footer_0-66"></a> + <span class="superscript">[66]</span> + The author has seen a Dahcotah warrior open his medicine-bag, + talk with an air of affectionate respect to the bone, feather, or horn + within, and blow tobacco-smoke upon it as an offering. "Medicines" + are acquired not only by fasting, but by casual dreams, and otherwise. + They are sometimes even bought and sold. For a curious account of + medicine-bags and fetich-worship among the Algonquins of Gaspé, + see Le Clerc, <i>Nouvelle Relation de la Gaspésie</i>, + Chap. XIII.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00306"> +Indian belief recognizes also another and very different +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxii" id="Page_lxxii">lxxii</a></span> +class of beings. +Besides the giants and monsters of legendary lore, other conceptions may +be discerned, more or less distinct, and of a character partly mythical. +Of these the most conspicuous is that remarkable personage of Algonquin +tradition, called Manabozho, Messou, Michabou, Nanabush, or the Great +Hare. As each species of animal has its archetype or king, so, among the +Algonquins, Manabozho is king of all these animal kings. Tradition is +diverse as to his origin. According to the most current belief, his +father was the West-Wind, and his mother a great-granddaughter of the +Moon. His character is worthy of such a parentage. Sometimes he is a +wolf, a bird, or a gigantic hare, surrounded by a court of quadrupeds; +sometimes he appears in human shape, majestic in stature and wondrous in +endowment, a mighty magician, a destroyer of serpents and evil manitous; +sometimes he is a vain and treacherous imp, full of childish whims and +petty trickery, the butt and victim of men, beasts, and spirits. His +powers of transformation are without limit; his curiosity and malice are +insatiable; and of the numberless legends of which he is the hero, +the greater part are as trivial as they are incoherent. +<a href="#footer_0-67"><span class="superscript">[67]</span></a> +It does not appear that Manabozho was ever an object of worship; yet, +despite his absurdity, tradition declares him to be chief among the +manitous, in short, the "Great Spirit." +<a href="#footer_0-68"><span class="superscript">[68]</span></a> +It was he who restored +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxiii" id="Page_lxxiii">lxxiii</a></span> +the world, submerged by a deluge. He was hunting in company +with a certain wolf, who was his brother, or, by other accounts, his +grandson, when his quadruped relative fell through the ice of a frozen +lake, and was at once devoured by certain serpents lurking in the depths +of the waters. Manabozho, intent on revenge, transformed himself into +the stump of a tree, and by this artifice surprised and slew the king of +the serpents, as he basked with his followers in the noontide sun. +The serpents, who were all manitous, caused, in their rage, the waters of +the lake to deluge the earth. Manabozho climbed a tree, which, in answer +to his entreaties, grew as the flood rose around it, and thus saved him +from the vengeance of the evil spirits. Submerged to the neck, he looked +abroad on the waste of waters, and at length descried the bird known as +the loon, to whom he appealed for aid in the task of restoring the world. +The loon dived in search of a little mud, as material for reconstruction, +but could not reach the bottom. A musk-rat made the same attempt, +but soon reappeared floating on his back, and apparently dead. Manabozho, +however, on searching his paws, discovered in one of them a particle of +the desired mud, and of this, together with the body of the loon, created +the world anew. +<a href="#footer_0-69"><span class="superscript">[69]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00307" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-67" name="footer_0-67"></a> + <span class="superscript">[67]</span> + Mr. Schoolcraft has collected many of these tales. See his <i>Algic + Researches</i>, Vol. I. Compare the stories of Messou, given by Le + Jeune (<i>Relations, 1633, 1634</i>), and the account of Nanabush, by + Edwin James, in his notes to Tanner's <i>Narrative of Captivity and + Adventures during a Thirty-Years' Residence among the Indians</i>; + also the account of the Great Hare, in the <i>Mémoire</i> of + Nicolas Perrot, Chaps. I., II.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-68" name="footer_0-68"></a> + <span class="superscript">[68]</span> + "Presque toutes les Nations Algonquines ont + donné le nom de <i>Grand Lièvre</i> au Premier Esprit, + quelques-uns l'appellent <i>Michabou</i> (Manabozho)."—Charlevoix, + <i>Journal Historique</i>, 344. <br /> + <a id="footer_0-69" name="footer_0-69"></a> + <span class="superscript">[69]</span> + This is a form of the story still current among the remoter + Algonquins. Compare the story of Messou, in Le Jeune, + <i>Relation, 1633</i>, 16. It is substantially the same.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + + +<p id="id00309"> +There are various forms of this tradition, in some of which Manabozho +appears, not as the restorer, but as the creator of the world, forming +mankind from the carcasses of beasts, birds, and fishes. +<a href="#footer_0-70"><span class="superscript">[70]</span></a> +Other stories represent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxiv" id="Page_lxxiv">lxxiv</a></span> +him as marrying a female musk-rat, by whom he became +the progenitor of the human race. +<a href="#footer_0-71"><span class="superscript">[71]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00310" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-70" name="footer_0-70"></a> + <span class="superscript">[70]</span> + In the beginning of all things, Manabozho, in the form of the Great + Hare, was on a raft, surrounded by animals who acknowledged him as their + chief. No land could be seen. Anxious to create the world, the Great + Hare persuaded the beaver to dive for mud; but the adventurous diver + floated to the surface senseless. The otter next tried, and failed like + his predecessor. The musk-rat now offered himself for the desperate + task. He plunged, and, after remaining a day and night beneath the + surface, reappeared, floating on his back beside the raft, apparently + dead, and with all his paws fast closed. On opening them, the other + animals found in one of them a grain of sand, and of this the Great Hare + created the world.—Perrot, <i>Mémoire</i>, Chap. I. + <br /> + <a id="footer_0-71" name="footer_0-71"></a> + <span class="superscript">[71]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1633</i>, 16.—The musk-rat is always a + conspicuous figure in Algonquin cosmogony.</p> + <p id="id00312"> + It is said that Messou, or Manabozho, once gave to an Indian the gift of + immortality, tied in a bundle, enjoining him never to open it. The + Indian's wife, however, impelled by curiosity, one day cut the string, + the precious gift flew out, and Indians have ever since been subject to + death. Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1634</i>, 13.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00313"> +Searching for some higher conception of supernatural existence, we find, +among a portion of the primitive Algonquins, traces of a vague belief in +a spirit dimly shadowed forth under the name of Atahocan, to whom it does +not appear that any attributes were ascribed or any worship offered, +and of whom the Indians professed to know nothing whatever; +<a href="#footer_0-72"><span class="superscript">[72]</span></a> +but there is no evidence that this belief extended beyond certain tribes of +the Lower St. Lawrence. Others saw a supreme manitou in the Sun. +<a href="#footer_0-73"><span class="superscript">[73]</span></a> +The Algonquins believed also in a malignant manitou, in whom the early +missionaries failed not to recognize the Devil, but who was far less +dreaded than his wife. She wore a robe made of the hair of her victims, +for she was the cause of death; and she it was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxv" id="Page_lxxv">lxxv</a></span> +whom, by yelling, drumming, +and stamping, they sought to drive away from the sick. Sometimes, +at night, she was seen by some terrified squaw in the forest, in shape +like a flame of fire; and when the vision was announced to the circle +crouched around the lodge-fire, they burned a fragment of meat to appease +the female fiend.</p> + + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00314" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-72" name="footer_0-72"></a> + <span class="superscript">[72]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1633</i>, 16; <i>Relation, 1634</i>, 13.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-73" name="footer_0-73"></a> + <span class="superscript">[73]</span> + Biard, <i>Relation, 1611</i>, Chap. VIII.—This belief was very + prevalent. The Ottawas, according to Ragueneau (<i>Relation des Hurons, + 1648</i>, 77), were accustomed to invoke the "Maker of Heaven" at + their feasts; but they recognized as distinct persons the Maker of the + Earth, the Maker of Winter, the God of the Waters, and the Seven + Spirits of the Wind. He says, at the same time, "The people of these + countries have received from their ancestors no knowledge of a God"; + and he adds, that there is no sentiment of religion in this + invocation.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00316"> +The East, the West, the North, and the South were vaguely personified as +spirits or manitous. Some of the winds, too, were personal existences. +The West-Wind, as we have seen, was father of Manabozho. There was a +Summer-Maker and a Winter-Maker; and the Indians tried to keep the latter +at bay by throwing firebrands into the air.</p> + +<p id="id00317"> +When we turn from the Algonquin family of tribes to that of the Iroquois, +we find another cosmogony, and other conceptions of spiritual existence. +While the earth was as yet a waste of waters, there was, according to +Iroquois and Huron traditions, a heaven with lakes, streams, plains, +and forests, inhabited by animals, by spirits, and, as some affirm, +by human beings. Here a certain female spirit, named Ataentsic, was once +chasing a bear, which, slipping through a hole, fell down to the earth. +Ataentsic's dog followed, when she herself, struck with despair, jumped +after them. Others declare that she was kicked out of heaven by the +spirit, her husband, for an amour with a man; while others, again, +hold the belief that she fell in the attempt to gather for her husband +the medicinal leaves of a certain tree. Be this as it may, the animals +swimming in the watery waste below saw her falling, and hastily met in +council to determine what should be done. The case was referred to the +beaver. The beaver commended it to the judgment of the tortoise, who +thereupon called on the other animals to dive, bring up mud, and place it +on his back. Thus +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxvi" id="Page_lxxvi">lxxvi</a></span> +was formed a floating island, on which Ataentsic fell; +and here, being pregnant, she was soon delivered of a daughter, who in +turn bore two boys, whose paternity is unexplained. They were called +Taouscaron and Jouskeha, and presently fell to blows, Jouskeha killing +his brother with the horn of a stag. The back of the tortoise grew into +a world full of verdure and life; and Jouskeha, with his grandmother, +Ataentsic, ruled over its destinies. +<a href="#footer_0-74"><span class="superscript">[74]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00318" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-74" name="footer_0-74"></a> + <span class="superscript">[74]</span> + The above is the version of the story given by Brébeuf, + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 86 (Cramoisy). No two Indians + told it precisely alike, though nearly all the Hurons and + Iroquois agreed as to its essential points. Compare Vanderdonck, + Cusick, Sagard, and other writers. According to Vanderdonck, + Ataentsic became mother of a deer, a bear, and a wolf, by whom + she afterwards bore all the other animals, mankind included. + Brébeuf found also among the Hurons a tradition inconsistent + with that of Ataentsic, and bearing a trace of Algonquin origin. It + declares, that, in the beginning, a man, a fox, and a skunk found + themselves together on an island, and that the man made the world out + of mud brought him by the skunk.</p> + <p id="id00319"> + The Delawares, an Algonquin tribe, seem to have borrowed somewhat of the + Iroquois cosmogony, since they believed that the earth was formed on the + back of a tortoise.</p> + <p id="id00320"> + According to some, Jouskeha became the father of the human race; but, + in the third generation, a deluge destroyed his posterity, so that it + was necessary to transform animals into men.—Charlevoix, III. + 345. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00321"> +He is the Sun; she is the Moon. He is beneficent; but she is malignant, +like the female demon of the Algonquins. They have a bark house, made +like those of the Iroquois, at the end of the earth, and they often come +to feasts and dances in the Indian villages. Jouskeha raises corn for +himself, and makes plentiful harvests for mankind. Sometimes he is seen, +thin as a skeleton, with a spike of shrivelled corn in his hand, or +greedily gnawing a human limb; and then the Indians know that a grievous +famine awaits them. He constantly interposes between mankind and the +malice of his wicked grandmother, whom, at times, he soundly cudgels. +It was he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxvii" id="Page_lxxvii">lxxvii</a></span> +who made lakes and streams: for once the earth was parched and +barren, all the water being gathered under the armpit of a colossal frog; +but Jouskeha pierced the armpit, and let out the water. No prayers were +offered to him, his benevolent nature rendering them superfluous. +<a href="#footer_0-75"><span class="superscript">[75]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00322" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-75" name="footer_0-75"></a> + <span class="superscript">[75]</span> + Compare Brébeuf, as before cited, and Sagard, + <i>Voyage des Hurons</i>, p. 228. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00323"> +The early writers call Jouskeha the creator of the world, and speak of +him as corresponding to the vague Algonquin deity, Atahocan. Another +deity appears in Iroquois mythology, with equal claims to be regarded as +supreme. He is called Areskoui, or Agreskoui, and his most prominent +attributes are those of a god of war. He was often invoked, and the +flesh of animals and of captive enemies was burned in his honor. +<a href="#footer_0-76"><span class="superscript">[76]</span></a> +Like Jouskeha, he was identified with the +sun; and he is perhaps to be regarded as the same being, under different +attributes. Among the Iroquois proper, or Five Nations, there was also a +divinity called Tarenyowagon, or Teharonhiawagon, +<a href="#footer_0-77"><span class="superscript">[77]</span></a> +whose place and +character it is very difficult to determine. In some traditions he +appears as the son of Jouskeha. He had a prodigious influence; for it +was he who spoke to men in dreams. The Five Nations recognized still +another superhuman personage,—plainly a deified chief or hero. This was +Taounyawatha, or Hiawatha, said to be a divinely appointed messenger, +who made his abode on earth for the political and social instruction of +the chosen race, and whose +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxviii" id="Page_lxxviii">lxxviii</a></span> +counterpart is to be found in the traditions +of the Peruvians, Mexicans, and other primitive nations. +<a href="#footer_0-78"><span class="superscript">[78]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00324" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-76" name="footer_0-76"></a> + <span class="superscript">[76]</span> + Father Jogues saw a female prisoner burned to Areskoui, and two bears + offered to him to atone for the sin of not burning more + captives.—<i>Lettre de Jogues, 5 Aug., 1643</i>. <br /> + <a id="footer_0-77" name="footer_0-77"></a> + <span class="superscript">[77]</span> + Le Mercier, <i>Relation, 1670</i>, 66; Dablon, <i>Relation, 1671</i>, + 17. Compare Cusick, Megapolensis, and Vanderdonck. Some writers + identify Tarenyowagon and Hiawatha. Vanderdonck assumes that + Areskoui is the Devil, and Tarenyowagon is God. Thus Indian + notions are often interpreted by the light of preconceived ideas. <br /> + <a id="footer_0-78" name="footer_0-78"></a> + <span class="superscript">[78]</span> + For the tradition of Hiawatha, see Clark, <i>History of Onondaga</i>, + I. 21. It will also be found in Schoolcraft's <i>Notes on the + Iroquois</i>, and in his <i>History, Condition, and Prospects of + Indian Tribes</i>.</p> + <p id="id00326"> + The Iroquois name for God is Hawenniio, sometimes written Owayneo; but + this use of the word is wholly due to the missionaries. Hawenniio is + an Iroquois verb, and means, <i>he rules, he is master</i>. There is + no Iroquois word which, in its primitive meaning, can be interpreted, + the Great Spirit, or God. On this subject, see <i>Études + Philologiques sur quelques Langues Sauvages</i> (Montreal, 1866), + where will also be found a curious exposure of a few of Schoolcraft's + ridiculous blunders in this connection. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00327"> +Close examination makes it evident that the primitive Indian's idea of a +Supreme Being was a conception no higher than might have been expected. +The moment he began to contemplate this object of his faith, and sought +to clothe it with attributes, it became finite, and commonly ridiculous. +The Creator of the World stood on the level of a barbarous and degraded +humanity, while a natural tendency became apparent to look beyond him to +other powers sharing his dominion. The Indian belief, if developed, +would have developed into a system of polytheism. +<a href="#footer_0-79"><span class="superscript">[79]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00328" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-79" name="footer_0-79"></a> + <span class="superscript">[79]</span> + Some of the early writers could discover no trace of belief in a + supreme spirit of any kind. Perrot, after a life spent among the + Indians, ignores such an idea. Allouez emphatically denies that + it existed among the tribes of Lake Superior. (<i>Relation, + 1667</i>, 11.) He adds, however, that the Sacs and Foxes + believed in a great <i>génie</i>, who lived not far + from the French settlements.—<i>Ibid.</i>, 21. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00329"> +In the primitive Indian's conception of a God the idea of moral good has +no part. His deity does not dispense justice for this world or the next, +but leaves mankind under the power of subordinate spirits, who fill and +control the universe. Nor is the good and evil of these inferior beings +a moral good and evil. The good spirit is the spirit that gives good +luck, and ministers to the necessities and desires of mankind: the evil +spirit is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxix" id="Page_lxxix">lxxix</a></span> +simply a malicious agent of disease, death, and mischance.</p> + +<p id="id00330"> +In no Indian language could the early missionaries find a word to express +the idea of God. <i>Manitou</i> and <i>Oki</i> meant anything endowed with +supernatural powers, from a snake-skin, or a greasy Indian conjurer, +up to Manabozho and Jouskeha. The priests were forced to use a +circumlocution,—"The Great Chief of Men," or "He who lives in the Sky." +<a href="#footer_0-80"><span class="superscript">[80]</span></a> +Yet it should seem that the idea of a supreme controlling spirit might +naturally arise from the peculiar character of Indian belief. The idea +that each race of animals has its archetype or chief would easily +suggest the existence of a supreme chief of the spirits or of the human +race,—a conception imperfectly shadowed forth in Manabozho. The +Jesuit missionaries seized this advantage. "If each sort of animal has +its king," they urged, "so, too, have men; and as man is above all the +animals, so is the spirit that rules over men the master of all the other +spirits." The Indian mind readily accepted the idea, and tribes in no +sense Christian quickly rose to the belief in one controlling spirit. +The Great Spirit became a distinct existence, a pervading power in the +universe, and a dispenser of justice. Many tribes now pray to him, +though still clinging obstinately to their ancient superstitions; and +with some, as the heathen portion of the modern Iroquois, he is clothed +with attributes of moral good. +<a href="#footer_0-81"><span class="superscript">[81]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00331" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-80" name="footer_0-80"></a> + <span class="superscript">[80]</span> + See "Divers Sentimens," appended to the <i>Relation</i> of 1635, + § 27; and also many other passages of early missionaries.<br /> + <a id="footer_0-81" name="footer_0-81"></a> + <span class="superscript">[81]</span> + In studying the writers of the last and of the present century, it is + to be remembered that their observations were made upon savages who had + been for generations in contact, immediate or otherwise, with the + doctrines of Christianity. Many observers have interpreted the religious + ideas of the Indians after preconceived ideas of their own; and it may + safely be affirmed that an Indian will respond with a grunt of + acquiescence to any question whatever touching his spiritual state. + Loskiel and the simple-minded Heckewelder write from a missionary point + of view; Adair, to support a theory of descent from the Jews; the worthy + theologian, Jarvis, to maintain his dogma, that all religious ideas of + the heathen world are perversions of revelation; and so, in a greater or + less degree, of many others. By far the most close and accurate + observers of Indian superstition were the French and Italian Jesuits of + the first half of the seventeenth century. Their opportunities were + unrivalled; and they used them in a spirit of faithful inquiry, + accumulating facts, and leaving theory to their successors. Of recent + American writers, no one has given so much attention to the subject as + Mr. Schoolcraft; but, in view of his opportunities and his zeal, his + results are most unsatisfactory. The work in six large quarto volumes, + <i>History, Condition, and Prospects of Indian Tribes</i>, published by + Government under his editorship, includes the substance of most of his + previous writings. It is a singularly crude and illiterate production, + stuffed with blunders and contradictions, giving evidence on every page + of a striking unfitness either for historical or philosophical inquiry, + and taxing to the utmost the patience of those who would extract what is + valuable in it from its oceans of pedantic verbiage.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00332"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxx" id="Page_lxxx">lxxx</a></span> +The primitive Indian believed in the immortality of the soul, +<a href="#footer_0-82"><span class="superscript">[82]</span></a> +but he did not always believe in a state of future reward and punishment. +Nor, when such a belief existed, was the good to be rewarded a moral good, +or the evil to be punished a moral evil. Skilful hunters, brave warriors, +men of influence and consideration, went, after death, to the happy +hunting-ground; while the slothful, the cowardly, and the weak were +doomed to eat serpents and ashes in dreary regions of mist and darkness. +In the general belief, however, there was but one land of shades for all +alike. The spirits, in form and feature as they had been in life, +wended their way through dark forests to the villages of the dead, +subsisting on bark and rotten wood. On arriving, they sat all day in the +crouching posture of the sick, and, when night came, hunted +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxxi" id="Page_lxxxi">lxxxi</a></span> +the shades of +animals, with the shades of bows and arrows, among the shades of trees +and rocks: for all things, animate and inanimate, were alike immortal, +and all passed together to the gloomy country of the dead.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-82" name="footer_0-82"></a> + <span class="superscript">[82]</span> + The exceptions are exceedingly rare. Father Gravier says that a + Peoria Indian once told him that there was no future life. It would be + difficult to find another instance of the kind. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00334"> +The belief respecting the land of souls varied greatly in different +tribes and different individuals. Among the Hurons there were those who +held that departed spirits pursued their journey through the sky, along +the Milky Way, while the souls of dogs took another route, by certain +constellations, known as the "Way of the Dogs." +<a href="#footer_0-83"><span class="superscript">[83]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-83" name="footer_0-83"></a> + <span class="superscript">[83]</span> + Sagard, <i>Voyage des Hurons</i>, 233. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00335"> +At intervals of ten or twelve years, the Hurons, the Neutrals, and other +kindred tribes, were accustomed to collect the bones of their dead, +and deposit them, with great ceremony, in a common place of burial. +The whole nation was sometimes assembled at this solemnity; and hundreds +of corpses, brought from their temporary resting-places, were inhumed in +one capacious pit. From this hour the immortality of their souls began. +They took wing, as some affirmed, in the shape of pigeons; while the +greater number declared that they journeyed on foot, and in their own +likeness, to the land of shades, bearing with them the ghosts of the +wampum-belts, beaver-skins, bows, arrows, pipes, kettles, beads, and +rings buried with them in the common grave. +<a href="#footer_0-84"><span class="superscript">[84]</span></a> +But as the spirits of the old and of children are too feeble for the march, +they are forced to stay behind, lingering near their earthly villages, where +the living often hear the shutting of their invisible cabin-doors, and the +weak +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxxii" id="Page_lxxxii">lxxxii</a></span> +voices of the disembodied children driving birds from their +corn-fields. +<a href="#footer_0-85"><span class="superscript">[85]</span></a> +An endless variety of incoherent fancies is connected with the Indian +idea of a future life. They commonly owe their origin to dreams, often +to the dreams of those in extreme sickness, who, on awaking, supposed +that they had visited the other world, and related to the wondering +bystanders what they had seen.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-84" name="footer_0-84"></a> + <span class="superscript">[84]</span> + The practice of burying treasures with the dead is not peculiar + to the North American aborigines. Thus, the London <i>Times</i> + of Oct. 28, 1865, describing the funeral rites of Lord + Palmerston, says: "And as the words, 'Dust to dust, ashes to ashes,' + were pronounced, the chief mourner, as a last precious offering to the + dead, threw into the grave several diamond and gold rings."<br /> + <a id="footer_0-85" name="footer_0-85"></a> + <span class="superscript">[85]</span> + Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, + 99 (Cramoisy).<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00336"> +The Indian land of souls is not always a region of shadows and gloom. +The Hurons sometimes represented the souls of their dead—those of their +dogs included—as dancing joyously in the presence of Ataentsic and +Jouskeha. According to some Algonquin traditions, heaven was a scene of +endless festivity, the ghosts dancing to the sound of the rattle and the +drum, and greeting with hospitable welcome the occasional visitor from +the living world: for the spirit-land was not far off, and roving hunters +sometimes passed its confines unawares.</p> + +<p id="id00337"> +Most of the traditions agree, however, that the spirits, on their journey +heavenward, were beset with difficulties and perils. There was a swift +river which must be crossed on a log that shook beneath their feet, +while a ferocious dog opposed their passage, and drove many into the +abyss. This river was full of sturgeon and other fish, which the ghosts +speared for their subsistence. Beyond was a narrow path between moving +rocks, which each instant crashed together, grinding to atoms the less +nimble of the pilgrims who essayed to pass. The Hurons believed that a +personage named Oscotarach, or the Head-Piercer, dwelt in a bark house +beside the path, and that it was his office to remove the brains from the +heads of all who went by, as a necessary preparation for immortality. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxxiii" id="Page_lxxxiii">lxxxiii</a></span> +This singular idea is found also in some Algonquin traditions, according +to which, however, the brain is afterwards restored to its owner. +<a href="#footer_0-86"><span class="superscript">[86]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00338" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-86" name="footer_0-86"></a> + <span class="superscript">[86]</span> + On Indian ideas of another life, compare Sagard, the Jesuit + <i>Relations</i>, Perrot, Charlevoix, and Lafitau, with Tanner, + James, Schoolcraft, and the Appendix to Morse's Indian Report.</p> + <p id="id00339"> + Le Clerc recounts a singular story, current in his time among the + Algonquins of Gaspé and Northern New Brunswick. The favorite + son of an old Indian died; whereupon the father, with a party of + friends, set out for the land of souls to recover him. It was only + necessary to wade + through a shallow lake, several days' journey in extent. This they did, + sleeping at night on platforms of poles which supported them above the + water. At length they arrived, and were met by Papkootparout, the Indian + Pluto, who rushed on them in a rage, with his war-club upraised; but, + presently relenting, changed his mind, and challenged them to a game of + ball. They proved the victors, and won the stakes, consisting of corn, + tobacco, and certain fruits, which thus became known to mankind. The + bereaved father now begged hard for his son's soul, and Papkootparout at + last gave it to him, in the form and size of a nut, which, by pressing it + hard between his hands, he forced into a small leather bag. The + delighted parent carried it back to earth, with instructions to insert it + in the body of his son, who would thereupon return to life. When the + adventurers reached home, and reported the happy issue of their journey, + there was a dance of rejoicing; and the father, wishing to take part in + it, gave his son's soul to the keeping of a squaw who stood by. Being + curious to see it, she opened the bag; on which it escaped at once, + and took flight for the realms of Papkootparout, preferring them to the + abodes of the living.—Le Clerc, <i>Nouvelle Relation de la + Gaspésie</i>, 310-328. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00340"> +Dreams were to the Indian a universal oracle. They revealed to him his +guardian spirit, taught him the cure of his diseases, warned him of the +devices of sorcerers, guided him to the lurking-places of his enemy or +the haunts of game, and unfolded the secrets of good and evil destiny. +The dream was a mysterious and inexorable power, whose least behests must +be obeyed to the letter,—a source, in every Indian town, of endless +mischief and abomination. There were professed dreamers, and professed +interpreters of dreams. One of the most noted festivals among the Hurons +and Iroquois was the Dream Feast, a scene of frenzy, where the actors +counterfeited +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxxiv" id="Page_lxxxiv">lxxxiv</a></span> +madness, and the town was like a bedlam turned loose. +Each pretended to have dreamed of something necessary to his welfare, +and rushed from house to house, demanding of all he met to guess his +secret requirement and satisfy it.</p> + +<p id="id00341"> +Believing that the whole material world was instinct with powers to +influence and control his fate, that good and evil spirits, and +existences nameless and indefinable, filled all Nature, that a pervading +sorcery was above, below, and around him, and that issues of life and +death might be controlled by instruments the most unnoticeable and +seemingly the most feeble, the Indian lived in perpetual fear. The +turning of a leaf, the crawling of an insect, the cry of a bird, the +creaking of a bough, might be to him the mystic signal of weal or woe.</p> + +<p id="id00342"> +An Indian community swarmed with sorcerers, medicine-men, and diviners, +whose functions were often united in the same person. The sorcerer, +by charms, magic songs, magic feasts, and the beating of his drum, +had power over the spirits and those occult influences inherent in +animals and inanimate things. He could call to him the souls of his +enemies. They appeared before him in the form of stones. He chopped and +bruised them with his hatchet; blood and flesh issued forth; and the +intended victim, however distant, languished and died. Like the sorcerer +of the Middle Ages, he made images of those he wished to destroy, and, +muttering incantations, punctured them with an awl, whereupon the persons +represented sickened and pined away.</p> + +<p id="id00343"> +The Indian doctor relied far more on magic than on natural remedies. +Dreams, beating of the drum, songs, magic feasts and dances, and howling +to frighten the female demon from his patient, were his ordinary methods +of cure.</p> + +<p id="id00344"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxxv" id="Page_lxxxv">lxxxv</a></span> +The prophet, or diviner, had various means of reading the secrets of +futurity, such as the flight of birds, and the movements of water and +fire. There was a peculiar practice of divination very general in the +Algonquin family of tribes, among some of whom it still subsists. +A small, conical lodge was made by planting poles in a circle, lashing +the tops together at the height of about seven feet from the ground, +and closely covering them with hides. The prophet crawled in, and closed +the aperture after him. He then beat his drum and sang his magic songs +to summon the spirits, whose weak, shrill voices were soon heard, mingled +with his lugubrious chanting, while at intervals the juggler paused to +interpret their communications to the attentive crowd seated on the +ground without. During the whole scene, the lodge swayed to and fro with +a violence which has astonished many a civilized beholder, and which some +of the Jesuits explain by the ready solution of a genuine diabolic +intervention. +<a href="#footer_0-87"><span class="superscript">[87]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00345" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-87" name="footer_0-87"></a> + <span class="superscript">[87]</span> + This practice was first observed by Champlain. (See "Pioneers of + France in the New World." ) From his time to the present, numerous + writers have remarked upon it. Le Jeune, in the <i>Relation</i> of + 1637, treats it at some length. The lodge was sometimes of a + cylindrical, instead of a conical form. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00346"> +The sorcerers, medicine-men, and diviners did not usually exercise the +function of priests. Each man sacrificed for himself to the powers he +wished to propitiate, whether his guardian spirit, the spirits of animals, +or the other beings of his belief. The most common offering was tobacco, +thrown into the fire or water; scraps of meat were sometimes burned to +the manitous; and, on a few rare occasions of public solemnity, a white +dog, the mystic animal of many tribes, was tied to the end of an upright +pole, as a sacrifice to some superior spirit, or to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxxvi" id="Page_lxxxvi">lxxxvi</a></span> +the sun, with which +the superior spirits were constantly confounded by the primitive Indian. +In recent times, when Judaism and Christianity have modified his +religious ideas, it has been, and still is, the practice to sacrifice +dogs to the Great Spirit. On these public occasions, the sacrificial +function is discharged by chiefs, or by warriors appointed for the +purpose. +<a href="#footer_0-88"><span class="superscript">[88]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00347" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-88" name="footer_0-88"></a> + <span class="superscript">[88]</span> + Many of the Indian feasts were feasts of sacrifice,—sometimes to + the guardian spirit of the host, sometimes to an animal of which he has + dreamed, sometimes to a local or other spirit. The food was first + offered in a loud voice to the being to be propitiated, after which the + guests proceeded to devour it for him. This unique method of sacrifice + was practised at war-feasts and similar solemnities. For an excellent + account of Indian religious feasts, see Perrot, Chap. V.</p> + <p id="id00348"> + One of the most remarkable of Indian sacrifices was that practised by + the Hurons in the case of a person drowned or frozen to death. The + flesh of the deceased was cut off, and thrown into a fire made for the + purpose, as an offering of propitiation to the spirits of the air or + water. What remained of the body was then buried near the + fire.—Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 108.</p> + <p id="id00349"> + The tribes of Virginia, as described by Beverly and others, not only had + priests who offered sacrifice, but idols and houses of worship.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00350"> +Among the Hurons and Iroquois, and indeed all the stationary tribes, +there was an incredible number of mystic ceremonies, extravagant, puerile, +and often disgusting, designed for the cure of the sick or for the +general weal of the community. Most of their observances seem originally +to have been dictated by dreams, and transmitted as a sacred heritage +from generation to generation. They consisted in an endless variety of +dances, masqueradings, and nondescript orgies; and a scrupulous adherence +to all the traditional forms was held to be of the last moment, as the +slightest failure in this respect might entail serious calamities. +If children were seen in their play imitating any of these mysteries, +they were grimly rebuked and punished. In many tribes secret magical +societies existed, and still exist, into which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxxvii" id="Page_lxxxvii">lxxxvii</a></span> +members are initiated with +peculiar ceremonies. These associations are greatly respected and +feared. They have charms for love, war, and private revenge, and exert a +great, and often a very mischievous influence. The societies of the +Metai and the Wabeno, among the Northern Algonquins, are conspicuous +examples; while other societies of similar character have, for a century, +been known to exist among the Dahcotah. +<a href="#footer_0-89"><span class="superscript">[89]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00351" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-89" name="footer_0-89"></a> + <span class="superscript">[89]</span> + The Friendly Society of the Spirit, of which the initiatory ceremonies + were seen and described by Carver (<i>Travels</i>, 271), preserves to + this day its existence and its rites. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00352"> +A notice of the superstitious ideas of the Indians would be imperfect +without a reference to the traditionary tales through which these ideas +are handed down from father to son. Some of these tales can be traced +back to the period of the earliest intercourse with Europeans. One at +least of those recorded by the first missionaries, on the Lower +St. Lawrence, is still current among the tribes of the Upper Lakes. +Many of them are curious combinations of beliefs seriously entertained +with strokes intended for humor and drollery, which never fail to awaken +peals of laughter in the lodge-circle. Giants, dwarfs, cannibals, +spirits, beasts, birds, and anomalous monsters, transformations, tricks, +and sorcery, form the staple of the story. Some of the Iroquois tales +embody conceptions which, however preposterous, are of a bold and +striking character; but those of the Algonquins are, to an incredible +degree, flimsy, silly, and meaningless; nor are those of the Dahcotah +tribes much better. In respect to this wigwam lore, there is a curious +superstition of very wide prevalence. The tales must not be told in +summer; since at that season, when all Nature is full of life, the +spirits are awake, and, hearing what is said of them, may take offence; +whereas in winter they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxxviii" id="Page_lxxxviii">lxxxviii</a></span> +are fast sealed up in snow and ice, and no longer +capable of listening. +<a href="#footer_0-90"><span class="superscript">[90]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00353" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_0-90" name="footer_0-90"></a> + <span class="superscript">[90]</span> + The prevalence of this fancy among the Algonquins in the remote parts + of Canada is well established. The writer found it also among the + extreme western bands of the Dahcotah. He tried, in the month of July, + to persuade an old chief, a noted story-teller, to tell him some of the + tales; but, though abundantly loquacious in respect to his own + adventures, and even his dreams, the Indian obstinately refused, saying + that winter was the time for the tales, and that it was bad to tell + them in summer.</p> + <p id="id00354"> + Mr. Schoolcraft has published a collection of Algonquin tales, under the + title of <i>Algic Researches</i>. Most of them were translated by his + wife, an educated Ojibwa half-breed. This book is perhaps the best of + Mr. Schoolcraft's works, though its value is much impaired by the want of + a literal rendering, and the introduction of decorations which savor more + of a popular monthly magazine than of an Indian wigwam. Mrs. Eastman's + interesting <i>Legends of the Sioux</i> (Dahcotah) is not free from the same + defect. Other tales are scattered throughout the works of Mr. Schoolcraft + and various modern writers. Some are to be found in the works of Lafitau + and the other Jesuits. But few of the Iroquois legends have been printed, + though a considerable number have been written down. The singular <i>History + of the Five Nations</i>, by the old Tuscarora Indian, Cusick, gives the + substance of some of them. Others will be found in Clark's <i>History of + Onondaga</i>.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00355"> +It is obvious that the Indian mind has never seriously occupied itself +with any of the higher themes of thought. The beings of its belief are +not impersonations of the forces of Nature, the courses of human destiny, +or the movements of human intellect, will, and passion. In the midst of +Nature, the Indian knew nothing of her laws. His perpetual reference of +her phenomena to occult agencies forestalled inquiry and precluded +inductive reasoning. If the wind blew with violence, it was because the +water-lizard, which makes the wind, had crawled out of his pool; if the +lightning was sharp and frequent, it was because the young of the +thunder-bird were restless in their nest; if a blight fell upon the corn, +it was because the Corn Spirit was angry; and if the beavers were shy and +difficult to catch, it was because +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_lxxxix" id="Page_lxxxix">lxxxix</a></span> + they had taken offence at seeing the +bones of one of their race thrown to a dog. Well, and even highly +developed, in a few instances,—I allude especially to the +Iroquois,—with respect to certain points of material concernment, +the mind of the Indian in other respects was and is almost hopelessly +stagnant. The very traits that raise him above the servile races are +hostile to the kind and degree of civilization which those races so +easily attain. His intractable spirit of independence, and the pride +which forbids him to be an imitator, reinforce but too strongly that +savage lethargy of mind from which it is so hard to rouse him. No race, +perhaps, ever offered greater difficulties to those laboring for its +improvement.</p> + +<p id="id00356"> +To sum up the results of this examination, the primitive Indian was as +savage in his religion as in his life. He was divided between +fetich-worship and that next degree of religious development which +consists in the worship of deities embodied in the human form. His +conception of their attributes was such as might have been expected. +His gods were no whit better than himself. Even when he borrows from +Christianity the idea of a Supreme and Universal Spirit, his tendency +is to reduce Him to a local habitation and a bodily shape; and this +tendency disappears only in tribes that have been long in contact with +civilized white men. The primitive Indian, yielding his untutored +homage to One All-pervading and Omnipotent Spirit, is a dream of poets, +rhetoricians, and sentimentalists.</p> + + + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_1" id="Chapter_1"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00358"><a href="#Contents1">CHAPTER I.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1634.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00359" class="smcapheader">NOTRE-DAME DES ANGES.</p> + <p id="id00360" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Quebec in 1634 • Father Le Jeune • + The Mission-House • Its Domestic Economy • + The Jesuits and their Designs + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00363"> +<span class="smcap">Opposite</span> Quebec lies the tongue of land +called Point Levi. One who, in the summer of the year 1634, stood +on its margin and looked northward, across the St. Lawrence, would +have seen, at the distance of a mile or more, a range of lofty +cliffs, rising on the left into the bold heights of Cape Diamond, +and on the right sinking abruptly to the bed of the tributary river +St. Charles. Beneath these cliffs, at the brink of the St. Lawrence, +he would have descried a cluster of warehouses, sheds, and wooden +tenements. Immediately above, along the verge of the precipice, he +could have traced the outlines of a fortified work, with a +flagstaff, and a few small cannon to command the river; while, at the +only point where Nature had made the heights accessible, a zigzag path +connected the warehouses and the fort.</p> + +<p id="id00364"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> +Now, embarked in the canoe of some Montagnais Indian, let him cross the +St. Lawrence, land at the pier, and, passing the cluster of buildings, +climb the pathway up the cliff. Pausing for rest and breath, he might +see, ascending and descending, the tenants of this outpost of the +wilderness: a soldier of the fort, or an officer in slouched hat and +plume; a factor of the fur company, owner and sovereign lord of all +Canada; a party of Indians; a trader from the upper country, one of the +precursors of that hardy race of <i>coureurs de bois</i>, destined to form a +conspicuous and striking feature of the Canadian population: next, +perhaps, would appear a figure widely different. The close, black +cassock, the rosary hanging from the waist, and the wide, black hat, +looped up at the sides, proclaimed the Jesuit,—Father Le Jeune, Superior +of the Residence of Quebec.</p> + +<p id="id00365"> +And now, that we may better know the aspect and condition of the infant +colony and incipient mission, we will follow the priest on his way. +Mounting the steep path, he reached the top of the cliff, some two +hundred feet above the river and the warehouses. On the left lay the +fort built by Champlain, covering a part of the ground now forming Durham +Terrace and the Place d'Armes. Its ramparts were of logs and earth, +and within was a turreted building of stone, used as a barrack, as +officers' quarters, and for other purposes. +<a href="#footer_1-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +Near the fort stood a small chapel, newly built. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> +surrounding +country was cleared and partially cultivated; yet only one dwelling-house +worthy the name appeared. It was a substantial cottage, where lived +Madame Hébert, widow of the first settler of Canada, with her daughter, +her son-in-law Couillard, and their children, good Catholics all, who, +two years before, when Quebec was evacuated by the English, +<a href="#footer_1-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +wept for joy at beholding Le Jeune, and his brother Jesuit, De Nouë, +crossing their threshold to offer beneath their roof the long-forbidden +sacrifice of the Mass. There were inclosures with cattle near at hand; +and the house, with its surroundings, betokened industry and thrift.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00366" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_1-1" name="footer_1-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Compare the various notices in Champlain (1632) with that of + Du Creux, <i>Historia Canadensis</i>, 204.<br /> + <a id="footer_1-2" name="footer_1-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + See "Pioneers of France in the New World." Hébert's + cottage seems to have stood between Ste.-Famille and Couillard + Streets, as appears by a contract of 1634, cited by M. Ferland. + <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00367"> +Thence Le Jeune walked on, across the site of the modern market-place, +and still onward, near the line of the cliffs which sank abruptly on his +right. Beneath lay the mouth of the St. Charles; and, beyond, the +wilderness shore of Beauport swept in a wide curve eastward, to where, +far in the distance, the Gulf of Montmorenci yawned on the great river. +<a href="#footer_1-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +The priest +soon passed the clearings, and entered the woods which covered the site +of the present suburb of St. John. Thence he descended to a lower +plateau, where now lies the suburb of St. Roch, and, still advancing, +reached a pleasant spot at the extremity of the Pointe-aux-Lièvres, +a tract of meadow land nearly inclosed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> +by a sudden bend of the +St. Charles. Here lay a canoe or skiff; and, paddling across the narrow +stream, Le Jeune saw on the meadow, two hundred yards from the bank, +a square inclosure formed of palisades, like a modern picket fort of the +Indian frontier. +<a href="#footer_1-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +Within this inclosure were two buildings, one of +which had been half burned by the English, and was not yet repaired. +It served as storehouse, stable, workshop, and bakery. Opposite stood +the principal building, a structure of planks, plastered with mud, +and thatched with long grass from the meadows. It consisted of one story, +a garret, and a cellar, and contained four principal rooms, of which one +served as chapel, another as refectory, another as kitchen, and the +fourth as a lodging for workmen. The furniture of all was plain in the +extreme. Until the preceding year, the chapel had had no other ornament +than a sheet on which were glued two coarse engravings; but the priests +had now decorated their altar with an image of a dove representing the +Holy Ghost, an image of Loyola, another of Xavier, and three images of +the Virgin. Four cells opened from the refectory, the largest of which +was eight feet square. In these lodged six priests, while two lay +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> +brothers found shelter in the garret. The house had been hastily built, +eight years before, and now leaked in all parts. Such was the Residence +of Notre-Dame des Anges. Here was nourished the germ of a vast +enterprise, and this was the cradle of the great mission of New France. +<a href="#footer_1-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a></p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00368" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_1-3" name="footer_1-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + The settlement of Beauport was begun this year, or the year following, + by the Sieur Giffard, to whom a large tract had been granted + here—Langevin, <i>Notes sur les Archives de N. D. de + Beauport</i>, 5.<br /> + <a id="footer_1-4" name="footer_1-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + This must have been very near the point where the streamlet called + the River Lairet enters the St. Charles. The place has a triple historic + interest. The wintering-place of Cartier in 1535-6 (see "Pioneers of + France") seems to have been here. Here, too, in 1759, Montcalm's bridge + of boats crossed the St. Charles; and in a large intrenchment, which + probably included the site of the Jesuit mission-house, the remnants of + his shattered army rallied, after their defeat on the Plains of + Abraham.—See the very curious <i>Narrative of the Chevalier + Johnstone</i>, published by the Historical Society of Quebec. <br /> + <a id="footer_1-5" name="footer_1-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + The above particulars are gathered from the <i>Relations</i> of 1626 + (Lalemant), and 1632, 1633, 1634, 1635 (Le Jeune), but chiefly from a + long letter of the Father Superior to the Provincial of the Jesuits at + Paris, containing a curiously minute report of the state of the mission. + It was sent from Quebec by the returning ships in the summer of 1634, + and will be found in Carayon, <i>Première Mission des + Jésuites au Canada</i>, 122. The original is in the archives + of the Order at Rome.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00369"> +Of the six Jesuits gathered in the refectory for the evening meal, +one was conspicuous among the rest,—a tall, strong man, with features +that seemed carved by Nature for a soldier, but which the mental habits +of years had stamped with the visible impress of the priesthood. This +was Jean de Brébeuf, descendant of a noble family of Normandy, and one of +the ablest and most devoted zealots whose names stand on the missionary +rolls of his Order. His companions were Masse, Daniel, Davost, De Nouë, +and the Father Superior, Le Jeune. Masse was the same priest who had +been the companion of Father Biard in the abortive mission of Acadia. +<a href="#footer_1-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> + By reason of his useful +qualities, Le Jeune nicknamed him "le Père Utile." At present, his +special function was the care of the pigs and cows, which he kept in the +inclosure around the buildings, lest they should ravage the neighboring +fields of rye, barley, wheat, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> +and maize. +<a href="#footer_1-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +De Nouë had charge of the +eight or ten workmen employed by the mission, who gave him at times no +little trouble by their repinings and complaints. +<a href="#footer_1-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +They were forced +to hear mass every morning and prayers every evening, besides an +exhortation on Sunday. Some of them were for returning home, while two +or three, of a different complexion, wished to be Jesuits themselves. +The Fathers, in their intervals of leisure, worked with their men, +spade in hand. For the rest, they were busied in preaching, singing +vespers, saying mass and hearing confessions at the fort of Quebec, +catechizing a few Indians, and striving to master the enormous +difficulties of the Huron and Algonquin languages.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00370" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_1-6" name="footer_1-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + See "Pioneers of France in the New World." <br /> + <a id="footer_1-7" name="footer_1-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + "Le P. Masse, que je nomme quelquefois en riant le Père + <i>Utile</i>, est bien cognu de V. R. Il a soin des choses + domestiques et du bestail que nous avons, en quoy il a + très-bien reussy."—<i>Lettre du P. Paul le + Jeune au R. P. Provincial</i>, in Carayon, 122.—Le Jeune + does not fail to send an inventory of the "bestail" to his + Superior, namely: "Deux grosses truies qui nourissent chacune + quatre petits cochons, deux vaches, deux petites genisses, et + un petit taureau." <br /> + <a id="footer_1-8" name="footer_1-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + The methodical Le Jeune sets down the causes of their discontent + under six different heads, each duly numbered. Thus:—<br /> + "1º. C'est le naturel des artisans de se plaindre et de gronder."<br/> + "2º. La diversité des gages les fait murmurer," etc.<br/> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00372"> +Well might Father Le Jeune write to his Superior, "The harvest is +plentiful, and the laborers few." These men aimed at the conversion of a +continent. From their hovel on the St. Charles, they surveyed a field of +labor whose vastness might tire the wings of thought itself; a scene +repellent and appalling, darkened with omens of peril and woe. They were +an advance-guard of the great army of Loyola, strong in a discipline that +controlled +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> +not alone the body and the will, but the intellect, the heart, +the soul, and the inmost consciousness. The lives of these early +Canadian Jesuits attest the earnestness of their faith and the intensity +of their zeal; but it was a zeal bridled, curbed, and ruled by a guiding +hand. Their marvellous training in equal measure kindled enthusiasm and +controlled it, roused into action a mighty power, and made it as +subservient as those great material forces which modern science has +learned to awaken and to govern. They were drilled to a factitious +humility, prone to find utterance in expressions of self-depreciation and +self-scorn, which one may often judge unwisely, when he condemns them as +insincere. They were devoted believers, not only in the fundamental +dogmas of Rome, but in those lesser matters of faith which heresy +despises as idle and puerile superstitions. One great aim engrossed +their lives. "For the greater glory of God"—<i>ad majorem Dei +gloriam</i>—they would act or wait, dare, suffer, or die, yet all +in unquestioning subjection to the authority of the Superiors, in whom +they recognized the agents of Divine authority itself.</p> + + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_2" id="Chapter_2"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00373"><a href="#Contents2">CHAPTER II.</a><br /> + </h2> + <p id="id00374" class="smcapheader">LOYOLA AND THE JESUITS.</p> + <p id="id00375" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Conversion of Loyola • + Foundation of the Society of Jesus • + Preparation of the Novice • + Characteristics of the Order • + The Canadian Jesuits + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00376"> +<span class="smcap">It</span> was an evil day for new-born +Protestantism, when a French artilleryman fired the shot +that struck down Ignatius Loyola in the breach of Pampeluna. +A proud noble, an aspiring soldier, a graceful courtier, +an ardent and daring gallant was metamorphosed by that stroke into the +zealot whose brain engendered and brought forth the mighty Society of +Jesus. His story is a familiar one: how, in the solitude of his +sick-room, a change came over him, upheaving, like an earthquake, all the +forces of his nature; how, in the cave of Manresa, the mysteries of +Heaven were revealed to him; how he passed from agonies to transports, +from transports to the calm of a determined purpose. The soldier gave +himself to a new warfare. In the forge of his great intellect, heated, +but not disturbed by the intense fires of his zeal, was wrought the +prodigious enginery whose power has been felt to the uttermost confines +of the world.</p> + +<p id="id00377"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> +Loyola's training had been in courts and camps: of books he knew little +or nothing. He had lived in the unquestioning faith of one born and bred +in the very focus of Romanism; and thus, at the age of about thirty, +his conversion found him. It was a change of life and purpose, not of +belief. He presumed not to inquire into the doctrines of the Church. +It was for him to enforce those doctrines; and to this end he turned all +the faculties of his potent intellect, and all his deep knowledge of +mankind. He did not aim to build up barren communities of secluded monks, +aspiring to heaven through prayer, penance, and meditation, but to subdue +the world to the dominion of the dogmas which had subdued him; to +organize and discipline a mighty host, controlled by one purpose and one +mind, fired by a quenchless zeal or nerved by a fixed resolve, yet +impelled, restrained, and directed by a single master hand. The Jesuit +is no dreamer: he is emphatically a man of action; action is the end of +his existence.</p> + +<p id="id00378"> +It was an arduous problem which Loyola undertook to solve,—to rob a man +of volition, yet to preserve in him, nay, to stimulate, those energies +which would make him the most efficient instrument of a great design. +To this end the Jesuit novitiate and the constitutions of the Order are +directed. The enthusiasm of the novice is urged to its intensest pitch; +then, in the name of religion, he is summoned to the utter abnegation of +intellect and will in favor of the Superior, in whom he is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> +commanded to recognize the representative of God on earth. Thus the young +zealot makes no slavish sacrifice of intellect and will; at least, so he +is taught: for he sacrifices them, not to man, but to his Maker. No limit +is set to his submission: if the Superior pronounces black to be white, +he is bound in conscience to acquiesce. +<a href="#footer_2-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00379" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_2-1" name="footer_2-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Those who wish to know the nature of the Jesuit virtue of obedience + will find it set forth in the famous <i>Letter on Obedience</i> of Loyola. +<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00380"> +Loyola's book of <i>Spiritual Exercises</i> is well known. In these exercises +lies the hard and narrow path which is the only entrance to the Society +of Jesus. The book is, to all appearance, a dry and superstitious +formulary; but, in the hands of a skilful director of consciences, +it has proved of terrible efficacy. The novice, in solitude and darkness, +day after day and night after night, ponders its images of perdition and +despair. He is taught to hear, in imagination, the howlings of the +damned, to see their convulsive agonies, to feel the flames that burn +without consuming, to smell the corruption of the tomb and the fumes of +the infernal pit. He must picture to himself an array of adverse armies, +one commanded by Satan on the plains of Babylon, one encamped under +Christ about the walls of Jerusalem; and the perturbed mind, humbled by +long contemplation of its own vileness, is ordered to enroll itself under +one or the other banner. Then, the choice made, it is led to a region of +serenity and celestial peace, and soothed with images of divine benignity +and grace. These meditations last, without intermission, about a month, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> +and, under an astute and experienced directorship, they have been found +of such power, that the <i>Manual of Spiritual Exercises</i> boasts to have +saved souls more in number than the letters it contains.</p> + +<p id="id00381"> +To this succeed two years of discipline and preparation, directed, +above all things else, to perfecting the virtues of humility and +obedience. The novice is obliged to perform the lowest menial offices, +and the most repulsive duties of the sick-room and the hospital; and he +is sent forth, for weeks together, to beg his bread like a common +mendicant. He is required to reveal to his confessor, not only his sins, +but all those hidden tendencies, instincts, and impulses which form the +distinctive traits of character. He is set to watch his comrades, +and his comrades are set to watch him. Each must report what he observes +of the acts and dispositions of the others; and this mutual espionage +does not end with the novitiate, but extends to the close of life. +The characteristics of every member of the Order are minutely analyzed, +and methodically put on record.</p> + +<p id="id00382"> +This horrible violence to the noblest qualities of manhood, joined to +that equivocal system of morality which eminent casuists of the Order +have inculcated, must, it may be thought, produce deplorable effects upon +the characters of those under its influence. Whether this has been +actually the case, the reader of history may determine. It is certain, +however, that the Society of Jesus has numbered among its members men +whose fervent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> +and exalted natures have been intensified, without being +abased, by the pressure to which they have been subjected.</p> + +<p id="id00383"> +It is not for nothing that the Society studies the character of its +members so intently, and by methods so startling. It not only uses its +knowledge to thrust into obscurity or cast out altogether those whom it +discovers to be dull, feeble, or unwilling instruments of its purposes, +but it assigns to every one the task to which his talents or his +disposition may best adapt him: to one, the care of a royal conscience, +whereby, unseen, his whispered word may guide the destiny of nations; to +another, the instruction of children; to another, a career of letters or +science; and to the fervent and the self-sacrificing, sometimes also to +the restless and uncompliant, the distant missions to the heathen.</p> + +<p id="id00384"> +The Jesuit was, and is, everywhere,—in the school-room, in the library, +in the cabinets of princes and ministers, in the huts of savages, in the +tropics, in the frozen North, in India, in China, in Japan, in Africa, +in America; now as a Christian priest, now as a soldier, a mathematician, +an astrologer, a Brahmin, a mandarin, under countless disguises, by a +thousand arts, luring, persuading, or compelling souls into the fold of +Rome.</p> + +<p id="id00385"> +Of this vast mechanism for guiding and governing the minds of men, +this mighty enginery for subduing the earth to the dominion of an idea, +this harmony of contradictions, this moral Proteus, the faintest sketch +must now suffice. A disquisition on the Society of Jesus would be +without end. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> +No religious order has ever united in itself so much to be +admired and so much to be detested. Unmixed praise has been poured on +its Canadian members. It is not for me to eulogize them, but to portray +them as they were.</p> +<hr class="main" /> + + +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_3" id="Chapter_3"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00386"><a href="#Contents3">CHAPTER III.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1632, 1633.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00387" class="smcapheader">PAUL LE JEUNE.</p> + <p id="id00388" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Le Jeune's Voyage • His First Pupils • + His Studies • His Indian Teacher • + Winter at the + Mission-<ins title="Capitalize House to match the topics list in the Contents.">H</ins>ouse + • Le Jeune's School • + Reinforcements + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00390"> +<span class="smcap">In</span> another narrative, we have seen how +the Jesuits, supplanting the Récollet friars, their +predecessors, had adopted as their own the rugged task of +Christianizing New France. We have seen, too, how a descent of +the English, or rather of Huguenots fighting under English colors, +had overthrown for a time the miserable little colony, with the mission +to which it was wedded; and how Quebec was at length restored to France, +and the broken thread of the Jesuit enterprise resumed. +<a href="#footer_3-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_3-1" name="footer_3-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + "Pioneers of France." <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00391"> +It was then that Le Jeune had embarked for the New World. He was in his +convent at Dieppe when he received the order to depart; and he set forth +in haste for Havre, filled, he assures us, with inexpressible joy at the +prospect of a living or a dying martyrdom. At Rouen he was joined by De +Nouë, with a lay brother named Gilbert; and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> +the three sailed together on +the eighteenth of April, 1632. The sea treated them roughly; Le Jeune +was wretchedly sea-sick; and the ship nearly foundered in a gale. +At length they came in sight of "that miserable country," as the +missionary calls the scene of his future labors. It was in the harbor of +Tadoussac that he first encountered the objects of his apostolic cares; +for, as he sat in the ship's cabin with the master, it was suddenly +invaded by ten or twelve Indians, whom he compares to a party of maskers +at the Carnival. Some had their cheeks painted black, their noses blue, +and the rest of their faces red. Others were decorated with a broad band +of black across the eyes; and others, again, with diverging rays of black, +red, and blue on both cheeks. Their attire was no less uncouth. Some of +them wore shaggy bear-skins, reminding the priest of the pictures of +St. John the Baptist.</p> + +<p id="id00392"> +After a vain attempt to save a number of Iroquois prisoners whom they +were preparing to burn alive on shore, Le Jeune and his companions again +set sail, and reached Quebec on the fifth of July. Having said mass, +as already mentioned, under the roof of Madame Hébert and her delighted +family, the Jesuits made their way to the two hovels built by their +predecessors on the St. Charles, which had suffered woful dilapidation at +the hands of the English. Here they made their abode, and applied +themselves, with such skill as they could command, to repair the +shattered tenements and cultivate the waste meadows around.</p> + +<p id="id00393"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> +The beginning of Le Jeune's missionary labors was neither imposing nor +promising. He describes himself seated with a small Indian boy on one +side and a small negro on the other, the latter of whom had been left by +the English as a gift to Madame Hébert. As neither of the three +understood the language of the others, the pupils made little progress in +spiritual knowledge. The missionaries, it was clear, must learn +Algonquin at any cost; and, to this end, Le Jeune resolved to visit the +Indian encampments. Hearing that a band of Montagnais were fishing for +eels on the St. Lawrence, between Cape Diamond and the cove which now +bears the name of Wolfe, he set forth for the spot on a morning in +October. As, with toil and trepidation, he scrambled around the foot of +the cape,—whose precipices, with a chaos of loose rocks, thrust +themselves at that day into the deep tidewater,—he dragged down upon +himself the trunk of a fallen tree, which, in its descent, well nigh +swept him into the river. The peril past, he presently reached his +destination. Here, among the lodges of bark, were stretched innumerable +strings of hide, from which hung to dry an incredible multitude of eels. +A boy invited him into the lodge of a withered squaw, his grandmother, +who hastened to offer him four smoked eels on a piece of birch bark, +while other squaws of the household instructed him how to roast them on a +forked stick over the embers. All shared the feast together, his +entertainers using as napkins their own hair or that of their dogs; while +Le Jeune, intent on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> +increasing his knowledge of Algonquin, maintained an +active discourse of broken words and pantomime. +<a href="#footer_3-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_3-2" name="footer_3-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1633</i>, 2. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00394"> +The lesson, however, was too laborious, and of too little profit, to be +often repeated, and the missionary sought anxiously for more stable +instruction. To find such was not easy. The interpreters—Frenchmen, +who, in the interest of the fur company, had spent years among the +Indians—were averse to Jesuits, and refused their aid. There was one +resource, however, of which Le Jeune would fain avail himself. An Indian, +called Pierre by the French, had been carried to France by the Récollet +friars, instructed, converted, and baptized. He had lately returned to +Canada, where, to the scandal of the Jesuits, he had relapsed into his +old ways, retaining of his French education little besides a few new +vices. He still haunted the fort at Quebec, lured by the hope of an +occasional gift of wine or tobacco, but shunned the Jesuits, of whose +rigid way of life he stood in horror. As he spoke good French and good +Indian, he would have been invaluable to the embarrassed priests at the +mission. Le Jeune invoked the aid of the Saints. The effect of his +prayers soon appeared, he tells us, in a direct interposition of +Providence, which so disposed the heart of Pierre that he quarrelled with +the French commandant, who thereupon closed the fort against him. +He then repaired to his friends and relatives in the woods, but only to +encounter a rebuff from a young squaw to whom +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> +he made his addresses. +On this, he turned his steps towards the mission-house, and, being +unfitted by his French education for supporting himself by hunting, +begged food and shelter from the priests. Le Jeune gratefully accepted +him as a gift vouchsafed by Heaven to his prayers, persuaded a lackey at +the fort to give him a cast-off suit of clothes, promised him maintenance, +and installed him as his teacher.</p> + +<p id="id00395"> +Seated on wooden stools by the rough table in the refectory, the priest +and the Indian pursued their studies. "How thankful I am," writes Le +Jeune, "to those who gave me tobacco last year! At every difficulty I +give my master a piece of it, to make him more attentive." +<a href="#footer_3-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00396" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_3-3" name="footer_3-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + <i>Relation, 1633</i>, 7. He continues: "Ie ne sçaurois + assez rendre graces à Nostre Seigneur de cet heureux + rencontre.… Que Dieu soit beny pour vn iamais, sa + prouidence est adorable, et sa bonté n'a point de + <ins title="the text did not have a period after limites.">limites"</ins> + <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00397"> +Meanwhile, winter closed in with a severity rare even in Canada. The +St. Lawrence and the St. Charles were hard frozen; rivers, forests, +and rocks were mantled alike in dazzling sheets of snow. The humble +mission-house of Notre-Dame des Anges was half buried in the drifts, +which, heaped up in front where a path had been dug through them, rose +two feet above the low eaves. The priests, sitting at night before the +blazing logs of their wide-throated chimney, heard the trees in the +neighboring forest cracking with frost, with a sound like the report of a +pistol. Le Jeune's ink froze, and his fingers were benumbed, as he +toiled at his declensions and conjugations, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> +or translated the Pater +Noster into blundering Algonquin. The water in the cask beside the fire +froze nightly, and the ice was broken every morning with hatchets. +The blankets of the two priests were fringed with the icicles of their +congealed breath, and the frost lay in a thick coating on the +lozenge-shaped glass of their cells. +<a href="#footer_3-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_3-4" name="footer_3-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1633</i>, 14, 15. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00398"> +By day, Le Jeune and his companion practised with snow-shoes, with all +the mishaps which attend beginners,—the trippings, the falls, and +headlong dives into the soft drifts, amid the laughter of the Indians. +Their seclusion was by no means a solitude. Bands of Montagnais, with +their sledges and dogs, often passed the mission-house on their way to +hunt the moose. They once invited De Nouë to go with them; and he, +scarcely less eager than Le Jeune to learn their language, readily +consented. In two or three weeks he appeared, sick, famished, and half +dead with exhaustion. "Not ten priests in a hundred," writes Le Jeune to +his Superior, "could bear this winter life with the savages." But what +of that? It was not for them to falter. They were but instruments in +the hands of God, to be used, broken, and thrown aside, if such should be +His will. +<a href="#footer_3-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00399" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_3-5" name="footer_3-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + "Voila, mon Reuerend Pere, vn eschantillon de ce qu'il faut souffrir + courant apres les Sauuages.… Il faut prendre sa vie, et tout ce + qu'on a, et le ietter à l'abandon, pour ainsi dire, se + contentant d'vne croix bien grosse et bien pesante pour toute + richesse. Il est bien vray que Dieu ne se laisse point vaincre, et + que plus on quitte, plus on trouue: plus on perd, plus on gaigne: + mais Dieu se cache par fois, et alors le Calice est bien + amer."—Le Jeune, <i>Relation 1633</i>, 19. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00400"> +An Indian made Le Jeune a present of two small +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> + children, greatly to the +delight of the missionary, who at once set himself to teaching them to +pray in Latin. As the season grew milder, the number of his scholars +increased; for, when parties of Indians encamped in the neighborhood, +he would take his stand at the door, and, like Xavier at Goa, ring a +bell. At this, a score of children would gather around him; and he, +leading them into the refectory, which served as his school-room, taught +them to repeat after him the Pater, Ave, and Credo, expounded the mystery +of the Trinity, showed them the sign of the cross, and made them repeat +an Indian prayer, the joint composition of Pierre and himself; then +followed the catechism, the lesson closing with singing the Pater Noster, +translated by the missionary into Algonquin rhymes; and when all was over, +he rewarded each of his pupils with a porringer of peas, to insure their +attendance at his next bell-ringing. +<a href="#footer_3-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00401" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_3-6" name="footer_3-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + "I'ay commencé à appeller quelques enfans auec vne + petite clochette. La premiere fois i'en auois six, puis douze, + puis quinze, puis vingt et davantage; ie leur fais dire le + <i>Pater, Aue, et Credo</i>, etc. … Nous finissons par le + <i>Pater Noster</i>, que i'ay composé quasi en rimes en + leur langue, que ie leur fais chanter: et pour derniere conclusion, + ie leur fais donner chacun vne escuellée de pois, qu'ils + mangent de bon appetit," etc.—Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1633</i>, + 23. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00402"> +It was the end of May, when the priests one morning heard the sound of +cannon from the fort, and were gladdened by the tidings that Samuel de +Champlain had arrived to resume command at Quebec, bringing with him four +more Jesuits,—Brébeuf, Masse, Daniel, and Davost. +<a href="#footer_3-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +Brébeuf, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> +from the first, turned his eyes towards the distant +land of the Hurons,—a field of labor full of peril, but rich in hope and +promise. Le Jeune's duties as Superior restrained him from wanderings so +remote. His apostleship must be limited, for a time, to the vagabond +hordes of Algonquins, who roamed the forests of the lower St. Lawrence, +and of whose language he had been so sedulous a student. His +difficulties had of late been increased by the absence of Pierre, who had +run off as Lent drew near, standing in dread of that season of fasting. +Masse brought tidings of him from Tadoussac, whither he had gone, and +where a party of English had given him liquor, destroying the last trace +of Le Jeune's late exhortations. "God forgive those," writes the Father, +"who introduced heresy into this country! If this savage, corrupted as +he is by these miserable heretics, had any wit, he would be a great +hindrance to the spread of the Faith. It is plain that he was given us, +not for the good of his soul, but only that we might extract from him the +principles of his language." +<a href="#footer_3-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_3-7" name="footer_3-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + See "Pioneers of France." <br /> + <a id="footer_3-8" name="footer_3-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + <i>Relation, 1633</i>, 29.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00403"> +Pierre had two brothers. One, well known as a hunter, was named +Mestigoit; the other was the most noted "medicine-man," or, as the +Jesuits called him, sorcerer, in the tribe of the +Montagnais<ins title="add period after Montagnais.">.</ins> +Like the rest of their people, they were accustomed to set out for their winter +hunt in the autumn, after the close of their eel-fishery. Le Jeune, +despite the experience of De Nouë, had long had a mind to accompany one +of these roving bands, partly in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> + hope, that, in some hour of distress, +he might touch their hearts, or, by a timely drop of baptismal water, +dismiss some dying child to paradise, but chiefly with the object of +mastering their language. Pierre had rejoined his brothers; and, as the +hunting season drew near, they all begged the missionary to make one of +their party,—not, as he thought, out of any love for him, but solely +with a view to the provisions with which they doubted not he would be +well supplied. Le Jeune, distrustful of the sorcerer, demurred, but at +length resolved to go.</p> + + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_4" id="Chapter_4"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00404"><a href="#Contents4">CHAPTER IV.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1633, 1634.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00405" class="smcapheader">LE JEUNE AND THE HUNTERS.</p> + <p id="id00406" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Le Jeune joins the Indians • The First Encampment • + The Apostate • Forest Life in Winter • + The Indian Hut • The Sorcerer • + His Persecution of the Priest • Evil Company • + Magic • Incantations • Christmas • + Starvation • Hopes of Conversion • + Backsliding • Peril and Escape of Le Jeune • + His Return + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00408"> +<span class="smcap">On</span> a morning in the latter part of +October, Le Jeune embarked with the Indians, twenty in all, men, +women, and children. No other Frenchman was of the party. +Champlain bade him an anxious farewell, and commended him +to the care of his red associates, who had taken charge of his store of +biscuit, flour, corn, prunes, and turnips, to which, in an evil hour, +his friends had persuaded him to add a small keg of wine. The canoes +glided along the wooded shore of the Island of Orleans, and the party +landed, towards evening, on the small island immediately below. Le Jeune +was delighted with the spot, and the wild beauties of the autumnal sunset.</p> + +<p id="id00409"> +His reflections, however, were soon interrupted. While the squaws were +setting up their bark lodges, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> +and Mestigoit was shooting wild-fowl for +supper, Pierre returned to the canoes, tapped the keg of wine, and soon +fell into the mud, helplessly drunk. Revived by the immersion, he next +appeared at the camp, foaming at the mouth, threw down the lodges, +overset the kettle, and chased the shrieking squaws into the woods. +His brother Mestigoit rekindled the fire, and slung the kettle anew; when +Pierre, who meanwhile had been raving like a madman along the shore, +reeled in a fury to the spot to repeat his former exploit. Mestigoit +anticipated him, snatched the kettle from the fire, and threw the +scalding contents in his face. "He was never so well washed before in +his life," says Le Jeune; "he lost all the skin of his face and breast. +Would to God his heart had changed also!" +<a href="#footer_4-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +He roared in his frenzy +for a hatchet to kill the missionary, who therefore thought it prudent to +spend the night in the neighboring woods. Here he stretched himself on +the earth, while a charitable squaw covered him with a sheet of +birch-bark. "Though my bed," he writes, "had not been made up since the +creation of the world, it was not hard enough to prevent me from +sleeping."</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00410" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_4-1" name="footer_4-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + "Iamais il ne fut si bien laué, il changea de peau en la + face et en tout l'estomach: pleust à Dieu que son ame eust + changé aussi bien que son corps!"—<i>Relation, + 1634</i>, 59.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00411"> +Such was his initiation into Indian winter life. Passing over numerous +adventures by water and land, we find the party, on the twelfth of +November, leaving their canoes on an island, and wading +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> +ashore at low +tide over the flats to the southern bank of the St. Lawrence. As two +other bands had joined them, their number was increased to forty-five +persons. Now, leaving the river behind, they entered those savage +highlands whence issue the springs of the St. John,—a wilderness of +rugged mountain-ranges, clad in dense, continuous forests, with no human +tenant but this troop of miserable rovers, and here and there some +kindred band, as miserable as they. Winter had set in, and already dead +Nature was sheeted in funereal white. Lakes and ponds were frozen, +rivulets sealed up, torrents encased with stalactites of ice; the black +rocks and the black trunks of the pine-trees were beplastered with snow, +and its heavy masses crushed the dull green boughs into the drifts +beneath. The forest was silent as the grave.</p> + +<p id="id00412"> +<a id="id00412a" name="id00412a"></a> +Through this desolation the long file of Indians made its way, all on +snow-shoes, each man, woman, and child bending under a heavy load, +or dragging a sledge, narrow, but of prodigious length. They carried +their whole wealth with them, on their backs or on their +sledges,—kettles, axes, <ins title="changed to hides of meat in later volumes."> +bales of meat,</ins> if such they had, and huge rolls of +birch-bark for covering their wigwams. The Jesuit was loaded like the +rest. The dogs alone floundered through the drifts unburdened. There +was neither path nor level ground. Descending, climbing, stooping +beneath half-fallen trees, clambering over piles of prostrate trunks, +struggling through matted cedar-swamps, threading chill ravines, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> +and +crossing streams no longer visible, they toiled on till the day began to +decline, then stopped to encamp. +<a href="#footer_4-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +Burdens were thrown down, and +sledges unladen. The squaws, with knives and hatchets, cut long poles of +birch and spruce saplings; while the men, with snow-shoes for shovels, +cleared a round or square space in the snow, which formed an upright wall +three or four feet high, inclosing the area of the wigwam. On one side, +a passage was cut for an entrance, and the poles were planted around the +top of the wall of snow, sloping and converging. On these poles were +spread the sheets of birch-bark; a bear-skin was hung in the passage-way +for a door; the bare ground within and the surrounding snow were covered +with spruce boughs; and the work was done.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00413" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_4-2" name="footer_4-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + "S'il arriuoit quelque dégel, ô Dieu quelle peine! + Il me sembloit que ie marchois sur vn chemin de verre qui se + cassoit à tous coups soubs mes pieds: la neige + congelée venant à s'amollir, tomboit et + s'enfonçoit par esquarres ou grandes pieces, et nous en + auions bien souuent iusques aux genoux, quelquefois iusqu'à + la ceinture Que s'il y auoit de la peine à tomber, il y + en auoit encor plus à se retirer: car nos raquettes se + chargeoient de neiges et se rendoient si pesantes, que quand vous + veniez à les retirer il vous sembloit qu'on vous tiroit les + iambes pour vous démembrer. I'en ay veu qui glissoient + tellement soubs des souches enseuelies soubs la neige, qu'ils ne + pouuoient tirer ny iambes ny raquettes sans secours: or figurez + vous maintenant vne personne chargée comme vn mulet, et + iugez si la vie des Sauuages est douce."—<i>Relation, + 1634</i>, 67. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00414"> +This usually occupied about three hours, during which Le Jeune, spent +with travel, and weakened by precarious and unaccustomed fare, had the +choice of shivering in idleness, or taking part in a labor which fatigued, +without warming, his exhausted frame. The sorcerer's wife was in far +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> +worse case. Though in the extremity of a mortal sickness, they left her +lying in the snow till the wigwam was made,—without a word, on her part, +of remonstrance or complaint. Le Jeune, to the great ire of her husband, +sometimes spent the interval in trying to convert her; but she proved +intractable, and soon died unbaptized.</p> + +<p id="id00415"> +Thus lodged, they remained so long as game could be found within a +circuit of ten or twelve miles, and then, subsistence failing, removed to +another spot. Early in the winter, they hunted the beaver and the Canada +porcupine; and, later, in the season of deep snows, chased the moose and +the caribou.</p> + +<p id="id00416"> +Put aside the bear-skin, and enter the hut. Here, in a space some +thirteen feet square, were packed nineteen savages, men, women, and +children, with their dogs, crouched, squatted, coiled like hedgehogs, +or lying on their backs, with knees drawn up perpendicularly to keep +their feet out of the fire. Le Jeune, always methodical, arranges the +grievances inseparable from these rough quarters under four chief +heads,—Cold, Heat, Smoke, and Dogs. The bark covering was full of +crevices, through which the icy blasts streamed in upon him from all +sides; and the hole above, at once window and chimney, was so large, that, +as he lay, he could watch the stars as well as in the open air. While +the fire in the midst, fed with fat pine-knots, scorched him on one side, +on the other he had much ado to keep himself from freezing. At times, +however, the crowded hut seemed heated +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> +to the temperature of an oven. +But these evils were light, when compared to the intolerable plague of +smoke. During a snow-storm, and often at other times, the wigwam was +filled with fumes so dense, stifling, and acrid, that all its inmates +were forced to lie flat on their faces, breathing through mouths in +contact with the cold earth. Their throats and nostrils felt as if on +fire; their scorched eyes streamed with tears; and when Le Jeune tried to +read, the letters of his breviary seemed printed in blood. The dogs were +not an unmixed evil, for, by sleeping on and around him, they kept him +warm at night; but, as an offset to this good service, they walked, ran, +and jumped over him as he lay, snatched the food from his birchen dish, +or, in a mad rush at some bone or discarded morsel, now and then overset +both dish and missionary.</p> + +<p id="id00417"> +Sometimes of an evening he would leave the filthy den, to read his +breviary in peace by the light of the moon. In the forest around sounded +the sharp crack of frost-riven trees; and from the horizon to the zenith +shot up the silent meteors of the northern lights, in whose fitful +flashings the awe-struck Indians beheld the dancing of the spirits of the +dead. The cold gnawed him to the bone; and, his devotions over, he +turned back shivering. The illumined hut, from many a chink and crevice, +shot forth into the gloom long streams of light athwart the twisted +boughs. He stooped and entered. All within glowed red and fiery around +the blazing pine-knots, where, like brutes in their kennel, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> +were gathered +the savage crew. He stepped to his place, over recumbent bodies and +leggined and moccasined limbs, and seated himself on the carpet of spruce +boughs. Here a tribulation awaited him, the crowning misery of his +winter-quarters,—worse, as he declares, than cold, heat, and dogs.</p> + +<p id="id00418"> +Of the three brothers who had invited him to join the party, one, we have +seen, was the hunter, Mestigoit; another, the sorcerer; and the third, +Pierre, whom, by reason of his falling away from the Faith, Le Jeune +always mentions as the Apostate. He was a weak-minded young Indian, +wholly under the influence of his brother, the sorcerer, who, if not more +vicious, was far more resolute and wily. From the antagonism of their +respective professions, the sorcerer hated the priest, who lost no +opportunity of denouncing his incantations, and who ridiculed his +perpetual singing and drumming as puerility and folly. The former, +being an indifferent hunter, and disabled by a disease which he had +contracted, depended for subsistence on his credit as a magician; and, +in undermining it, Le Jeune not only outraged his pride, but threatened +his daily bread. +<a href="#footer_4-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +He used every device to retort ridicule on his +rival. At the outset, he had proffered +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> + his aid to Le Jeune in his study +of the Algonquin; and, like the Indian practical jokers of Acadia in the +case of Father Biard, +<a href="#footer_4-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +palmed off upon +him the foulest words in the language as the equivalent of things +spiritual. Thus it happened, that, while the missionary sought to +explain to the assembled wigwam some point of Christian doctrine, he was +interrupted by peals of laughter from men, children, and squaws. And now, +as Le Jeune took his place in the circle, the sorcerer bent upon him his +malignant eyes, and began that course of rude bantering which filled to +overflowing the cup of the Jesuit's woes. All took their cue from him, +and made their afflicted guest the butt of their inane witticisms. +"Look at him! His face is like a dog's!"—"His head is like a +pumpkin!"—"He has a beard like a rabbit's!" The missionary bore +in silence these and countless similar attacks; indeed, so sorely was +he harassed, that, lest he should exasperate his tormentor, he sometimes +passed whole days without uttering a word. +<a href="#footer_4-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00419" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_4-3" name="footer_4-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + "Ie ne laissois perdre aucune occasion de le conuaincre de niaiserie + et de puerilité, mettant au iour l'impertinence de ses + superstitions: or c'estoit luy arracher l'ame du corps par + violence: car comme il ne sçauroit plus chasser, il fait + plus que iamais du Prophete et du Magicien pour conseruer son + credit, et pour auoir les bons morceaux; si bien qu'esbranlant son + authorité qui se va perdant tous les iours, ie le touchois + à la prunelle de l'œil."—<i>Relation, 1634</i>, + 56.<br /> + <a id="footer_4-4" name="footer_4-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + See "Pioneers of France," 268.<br /> + <a id="footer_4-5" name="footer_4-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + <i>Relation, 1634</i>, 207 (Cramoisy). "Ils me chargeoient + incessament de mille brocards & de mille injures; je me + suis veu en tel estat, que pour ne les aigrir, je passois + les jours entiers sans ouvrir la bouche." Here follows the + abuse, in the original Indian, with French translations. + Le Jeune's account of his experiences is singularly graphic. + The following is his summary of his annoyances:—</p> + <p id="id00421"> + "Or ce miserable homme" (the sorcerer), "& la + fumée m'ont esté les deux plus grands tourmens + que i'aye enduré parmy ces Barbares: ny le froid, ny + le chaud, ny l'incommodité des chiens, ny coucher + à l'air, ny dormir sur un lict de terre, ny la posture + qu'il faut tousiours tenir dans leurs cabanes, se ramassans + en peloton, ou se couchans, ou s'asseans sans siege & + sans mattelas, ny la faim, ny la soif, ny la pauureté + & saleté de leur boucan, ny la maladie, tout cela + ne m'a semblé que ieu à comparaison de la + fum<ins title="spelling is correct, although acute should technically be on the first e in fumee.">eé</ins> + & de la malice du Sorcier."—<i>Relation, + 1634</i>, 201 (Cramoisy).<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00422"> +Le Jeune, a man of excellent observation, already knew his red associates +well enough to understand that their rudeness did not of necessity +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> +imply +ill-will. The rest of the party, in their turn, fared no better. They +rallied and bantered each other incessantly, with as little forbearance, +and as little malice, as a troop of unbridled schoolboys. +<a href="#footer_4-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +No one took offence. To have done so would have been to bring upon one's self +genuine contumely. This motley household was a model of harmony. +True, they showed no tenderness or consideration towards the sick and +disabled; but for the rest, each shared with all in weal or woe: the +famine of one was the famine of the whole, and the smallest portion of +food was distributed in fair and equal partition. Upbraidings and +complaints were unheard; they bore each other's foibles with wondrous +equanimity; and while persecuting Le Jeune with constant importunity for +tobacco, and for everything else he had, they never begged among +themselves.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00423" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_4-6" name="footer_4-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + "Leur vie se passe à manger, à rire, + et à railler les vns des autres, et de tous + les peuples qu'ils cognoissent; ils n'ont rien de + serieux, sinon par fois l'exterieur, faisans parmy + nous les graues et les retenus, mais entr'eux sont de + vrais badins, de vrais enfans, qui ne demandent qu'à + rire."—<i>Relation, 1634</i>, 30. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00424"> +When the fire burned well and food was abundant, their conversation, +such as it was, was incessant. They used no oaths, for their language +supplied none,—doubtless because their mythology had no beings +sufficiently distinct to swear by. Their expletives were foul words, +of which they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> +had a superabundance, and which men, women, and children +alike used with a frequency and hardihood that amazed and scandalized the +priest. +<a href="#footer_4-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +Nor was he better pleased with their postures, in which +they consulted nothing but their ease. Thus, of an evening when the +wigwam was heated to suffocation, the sorcerer, in the closest possible +approach to nudity, lay on his back, with his right knee planted upright +and his left leg crossed on it, discoursing volubly to the company, who, +on their part, listened in postures scarcely less remote from decency.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00425" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_4-7" name="footer_4-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + "Aussi leur disois-je par fois, que si les pourceaux et les + chiens sçauoient parler, ils tiendroient leur + langage.… Les filles et les ieunes femmes sont + à l'exterieur tres honnestement couuertes, mais + entre elles leurs discours sont puants, comme des + cloaques."—<i>Relation, 1634</i>, 32.—The + social manners of remote tribes of the present time correspond + perfectly with Le Jeune's account of those of the Montagnais.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00426"> +There was one point touching which Le Jeune and his Jesuit brethren had +as yet been unable to solve their doubts. Were the Indian sorcerers mere +impostors, or were they in actual league with the Devil? That the fiends +who possess this land of darkness make their power felt by action direct +and potential upon the persons of its wretched inhabitants there is, +argues Le Jeune, good reason to conclude; since it is a matter of grave +notoriety, that the fiends who infest Brazil are accustomed cruelly to +beat and otherwise torment the natives of that country, as many +travellers attest. "A Frenchman worthy of credit," pursues the Father, +"has told me that he has heard with his own ears the voice of the Demon +and the sound of the blows +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> +which he discharges upon these his miserable +slaves; and in reference to this a very remarkable fact has been reported +to me, namely, that, when a Catholic approaches, the Devil takes flight +and beats these wretches no longer, but that in presence of a Huguenot he +does not stop beating them." +<a href="#footer_4-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00427" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_4-8" name="footer_4-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + "Surquoy on me rapporte vne chose tres remarquable, c'est que + le Diable s'enfuit, et ne frappe point ou cesse de frapper ces + miserables, quand vn Catholique entre en leur compagnie, et + qu'il ne laiss point de les battre en la presence d'vn Huguenot: + d'où vient qu'vn iour se voyans battus en la compagnie + d'vn certain François, ils luy dirent: Nous nous estonnons + que le diable nous batte, toy estant auec nous, veu qu'il + n'oseroit le faire quand tes compagnons sont presents. Luy + se douta incontinent que cela pouuoit prouenir de sa religion + (car il estoit Caluiniste); s'addressant donc à Dieu, + il luy promit de se faire Catholique si le diable cessoit de + battre ces pauures peuples en sa presence. Le vœu fait, iamais + plus aucun Demon ne molesta Ameriquain en sa compagnie, + d'où vient qu'il se fit Catholique, selon la promesse + qu'il en auoit faicte. Mais retournons à nostre + discours."—<i>Relation, 1634</i>, 22.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00428"> +Thus prone to believe in the immediate presence of the nether powers, +Le Jeune watched the sorcerer with an eye prepared to discover in his +conjurations the signs of a genuine diabolic agency. His observations, +however, led him to a different result; and he could detect in his rival +nothing but a vile compound of impostor and dupe. The sorcerer believed +in the efficacy of his own magic, and was continually singing and beating +his drum to cure the disease from which he was suffering. Towards the +close of the winter, Le Jeune fell sick, and, in his pain and weakness, +nearly succumbed under the nocturnal uproar of the sorcerer, who, hour +after hour, sang and drummed without mercy,—sometimes yelling at the top +of his throat, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> +then hissing like a serpent, then striking his drum on the +ground as if in a frenzy, then leaping up, raving about the wigwam, +and calling on the women and children to join him in singing. Now ensued +a hideous din; for every throat was strained to the utmost, and all were +beating with sticks or fists on the bark of the hut to increase the noise, +with the charitable object of aiding the sorcerer to conjure down his +malady, or drive away the evil spirit that caused it.</p> + +<p id="id00429"> +He had an enemy, a rival sorcerer, whom he charged with having caused by +charms the disease that afflicted him. He therefore announced that he +should kill him. As the rival dwelt at Gaspé, a hundred leagues off, +the present execution of the threat might appear difficult; but distance +was no bar to the vengeance of the sorcerer. Ordering all the children +and all but one of the women to leave the wigwam, he seated himself, +with the woman who remained, on the ground in the centre, while the men +of the party, together with those from other wigwams in the neighborhood, +sat in a ring around. Mestigoit, the sorcerer's brother, then brought in +the charm, consisting of a few small pieces of wood, some arrow-heads, +a broken knife, and an iron hook, which he wrapped in a piece of hide. +The woman next rose, and walked around the hut, behind the company. +Mestigoit and the sorcerer now dug a large hole with two pointed stakes, +the whole assembly singing, drumming, and howling meanwhile with a +deafening uproar. The hole made, the charm, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> +wrapped in the hide, was +thrown into it. Pierre, the Apostate, then brought a sword and a knife +to the sorcerer, who, seizing them, leaped into the hole, and, with +furious gesticulation, hacked and stabbed at the charm, yelling with the +whole force of his lungs. At length he ceased, displayed the knife and +sword stained with blood, proclaimed that he had mortally wounded his +enemy, and demanded if none present had heard his death-cry. The +assembly, more occupied in making noises than in listening for them, +gave no reply, till at length two young men declared that they had heard +a faint scream, as if from a great distance; whereat a shout of +gratulation and triumph rose from all the company. +<a href="#footer_4-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00430" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_4-9" name="footer_4-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + "Le magicien tout glorieux dit que son homme est frappé, + qu'il mourra bien tost, demande si on n'a point entendu ses cris: + tout le monde dit que non, horsmis deux ieunes hommes ses parens, + qui disent auoir ouy des plaintes fort sourdes, et comme de loing. + O qu'ils le firent aise! Se tournant vers moy, il se mit à + rire, disant: Voyez cette robe noire, qui nous vient dire qu'il + ne faut tuer personne. Comme ie regardois attentiuement + l'espée et le poignard, il me les fit presenter: Regarde, + dit-il, qu'est cela? C'est du sang, repartis-ie. De qui? De + quelque Orignac ou d'autre animal. Ils se mocquerent de moy, + disants que c'estoit du sang de ce Sorcier de Gaspé. + Comment, dis-je, il est à plus de cent lieuës d'icy? + Il est vray, font-ils, mais c'est le Manitou, c'est à dire + le Diable, qui apporte son sang pardessous la + terre."—<i>Relation, 1634</i>, 21. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00431"> +There was a young prophet, or diviner, in one of the neighboring huts, +of whom the sorcerer took counsel as to the prospect of his restoration +to health. The divining-lodge was formed, in this instance, of five or +six upright posts planted in a circle and covered with a blanket. +The prophet ensconced himself within; and after a long interval +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> +of +singing, the spirits declared their presence by their usual squeaking +utterances from the recesses of the mystic tabernacle. Their responses +were not unfavorable; and the sorcerer drew much consolation from the +invocations of his brother impostor. +<a href="#footer_4-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_4-10" name="footer_4-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + See Introduction. Also, "Pioneers of France," 315. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00432"> +Besides his incessant endeavors to annoy Le Jeune, the sorcerer now and +then tried to frighten him. On one occasion, when a period of starvation +had been followed by a successful hunt, the whole party assembled for one +of the gluttonous feasts usual with them at such times. While the guests +sat expectant, and the squaws were about to ladle out the banquet, +the sorcerer suddenly leaped up, exclaiming, that he had lost his senses, +and that knives and hatchets must be kept out of his way, as he had a +mind to kill somebody. Then, rolling his eyes towards Le Jeune, he began +a series of frantic gestures and outcries,—then stopped abruptly and +stared into vacancy, silent and motionless,—then resumed his former +clamor, raged in and out of the hut, and, seizing some of its supporting +poles, broke them, as if in an uncontrollable frenzy. The missionary, +though alarmed, sat reading his breviary as before. When, however, +on the next morning, the sorcerer began again to play the maniac, the +thought occurred to him, that some stroke of fever might in truth have +touched his brain. Accordingly, he approached him and felt his pulse, +which he found, in his own words, "as cool as a fish." The pretended +madman +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> +looked at him with astonishment, and, giving over the attempt to +frighten him, presently returned to his senses. +<a href="#footer_4-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00433" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_4-11" name="footer_4-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + The Indians, it is well known, ascribe mysterious + and supernatural powers to the insane, and respect + them accordingly. The Neutral Nation (see + Introduction, <a href="#Page_xliv">(p. xliv)</a>) + was full of pretended madmen, who raved about the + villages, throwing firebrands, and making other + displays of frenzy.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00434"> +Le Jeune, robbed of his sleep by the ceaseless thumping of the sorcerer's +drum and the monotonous cadence of his medicine-songs, improved the time +in attempts to convert him. "I began," he says, "by evincing a great +love for him, and by praises, which I threw to him as a bait whereby I +might catch him in the net of truth." +<a href="#footer_4-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +But the Indian, though pleased with the Father's flatteries, was +neither caught nor conciliated.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00435" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_4-12" name="footer_4-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + "Ie commençay par vn témoignage de grand + amour en son endroit, et par des loüanges que ie + luy iettay comme vne amorce pour le prendre dans les + filets de la verité. Ie luy fis entendre que + si vn esprit, capable des choses grandes comme le sien, + cognoissoit Dieu, que tous les Sauuages induis par son + exemple le voudroient aussi cognoistre."—<i>Relation, + 1634</i>, 71. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00436"> +Nowhere was his magic in more requisition than in procuring a successful +chase to the hunters,—a point of vital interest, since on it hung the +lives of the whole party. They often, however, returned empty-handed; +and, for one, two, or three successive days, no other food could be had +than the bark of trees or scraps of leather. So long as tobacco lasted, +they found solace in their pipes, which seldom left their lips. "Unhappy +infidels," writes Le Jeune, "who spend their lives in smoke, and their +eternity in flames!"</p> + +<p id="id00437"> +As Christmas approached, their condition grew +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> +desperate. Beavers and +porcupines were scarce, and the snow was not deep enough for hunting the +moose. Night and day the medicine-drums and medicine-songs resounded +from the wigwams, mingled with the wail of starving children. The +hunters grew weak and emaciated; and, as after a forlorn march the +wanderers encamped once more in the lifeless forest, the priest +remembered that it was the eve of Christmas. "The Lord gave us for our +supper a porcupine, large as a sucking pig, and also a rabbit. It was +not much, it is true, for eighteen or nineteen persons; but the Holy +Virgin and St. Joseph, her glorious spouse, were not so well treated, +on this very day, in the stable of Bethlehem." +<a href="#footer_4-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00438" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_4-13" name="footer_4-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + "Pour nostre souper, N. S. nous donna vn Porc-espic gros + comme vn cochon de lait, et vn liéure; c'estoit + peu pour dix-huit ou vingt personnes que nous estions, + il est vray, mais la saincte Vierge et son glorieux + Espoux sainct Ioseph ne furent pas si bien traictez + à mesme iour dans l'estable de + Bethleem."—<i>Relation, 1634</i>, 74.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00439"> +On Christmas Day, the despairing hunters, again unsuccessful, came to +pray succor from Le Jeune. Even the Apostate had become tractable, +and the famished sorcerer was ready to try the efficacy of an appeal to +the deity of his rival. A bright hope possessed the missionary. He +composed two prayers, which, with the aid of the repentant Pierre, +he translated into Algonquin. Then he hung against the side of the hut a +napkin which he had brought with him, and against the napkin a crucifix +and a reliquary, and, this done, caused all the Indians to kneel before +them, with hands raised and clasped. He now read one of the prayers, +and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> +required the Indians to repeat the other after him, promising to +renounce their superstitions, and obey Christ, whose image they saw +before them, if he would give them food and save them from perishing. +The pledge given, he dismissed the hunters with a benediction. At night +they returned with game enough to relieve the immediate necessity. +All was hilarity. The kettles were slung, and the feasters assembled. +Le Jeune rose to speak, when Pierre, who, having killed nothing, was in +ill humor, said, with a laugh, that the crucifix and the prayer had +nothing to do with their good luck; while the sorcerer, his jealousy +reviving as he saw his hunger about to be appeased, called out to the +missionary, "Hold your tongue! You have no sense!" As usual, all took +their cue from him. They fell to their repast with ravenous jubilation, +and the disappointed priest sat dejected and silent.</p> + +<p id="id00440"> +Repeatedly, before the spring, they were thus threatened with starvation. +Nor was their case exceptional. It was the ordinary winter life of all +those Northern tribes who did not till the soil, but lived by hunting and +fishing alone. The desertion or the killing of the aged, sick, and +disabled, occasional cannibalism, and frequent death from famine, were +natural incidents of an existence which, during half the year, was but a +desperate pursuit of the mere necessaries of life under the worst +conditions of hardship, suffering, and debasement.</p> + +<p id="id00441"> +At the beginning of April, after roaming for five months among forests +and mountains, the party +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> +made their last march, regained the bank of the +St. Lawrence, and waded to the island where they had hidden their canoes. +Le Jeune was exhausted and sick, and Mestigoit offered to carry him in +his canoe to Quebec. This Indian was by far the best of the three +brothers, and both Pierre and the sorcerer looked to him for support. +He was strong, active, and daring, a skilful hunter, and a dexterous +canoeman. Le Jeune gladly accepted his offer; embarked with him and +Pierre on the dreary and tempestuous river; and, after a voyage full of +hardship, during which the canoe narrowly escaped being ground to atoms +among the floating ice, landed on the Island of Orleans, six miles from +Quebec. The afternoon was stormy and dark, and the river was covered +with ice, sweeping by with the tide. They were forced to encamp. +At midnight, the moon had risen, the river was comparatively unencumbered, +and they embarked once more. The wind increased, and the waves tossed +furiously. Nothing saved them but the skill and courage of Mestigoit. +At length they could see the rock of Quebec towering through the gloom, +but piles of ice lined the shore, while floating masses were drifting +down on the angry current. The Indian watched his moment, shot his canoe +through them, gained the fixed ice, leaped out, and shouted to his +companions to follow. Pierre scrambled up, but the ice was six feet out +of the water, and Le Jeune's agility failed him. He saved himself by +clutching the ankle of Mestigoit, by whose aid he gained a firm foothold +at the top, and, for a moment, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> +the three voyagers, aghast at the +narrowness of their escape, stood gazing at each other in silence.</p> + +<p id="id00442"> +It was three o'clock in the morning when Le Jeune knocked at the door of +his rude little convent on the St. Charles; and the Fathers, springing in +joyful haste from their slumbers, embraced their long absent Superior +with ejaculations of praise and benediction.</p> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_5" id="Chapter_5"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00444"><a href="#Contents5">CHAPTER V.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1633, 1634.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00445" class="smcapheader">THE HURON MISSION.</p> + <p id="id00446" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Plans of Conversion • Aims and Motives • + Indian Diplomacy • Hurons at Quebec • + Councils • The Jesuit Chapel • + Le Borgne • The Jesuits Thwarted • + Their Perseverance • The Journey to the Hurons • + Jean de Brébeuf • The Mission Begun + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00447"> +<span class="smcap">Le Jeune</span> had learned the difficulties +of the Algonquin mission. To imagine that he recoiled or +faltered would be an injustice to his Order; but on two points +he had gained convictions: first, that little progress could be +made in converting these wandering hordes till they could be +settled in fixed abodes; and, secondly, that their scanty numbers, +their geographical position, and their slight influence in the politics +of the wilderness offered no flattering promise that their conversion +would be fruitful in further triumphs of the Faith. It was to another +quarter that the Jesuits looked most earnestly. By the vast lakes of the +West dwelt numerous stationary populations, and particularly the Hurons, +on the lake which bears +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> +their name. Here was a hopeful basis of +indefinite conquests; for, the Hurons won over, the Faith would spread in +wider and wider circles, embracing, one by one, the kindred tribes,—the +Tobacco Nation, the Neutrals, the Eries, and the Andastes. Nay, in His +own time, God might lead into His fold even the potent and ferocious +Iroquois.</p> + +<p id="id00448"> +The way was pathless and long, by rock and torrent and the gloom of +savage forests. The goal was more dreary yet. Toil, hardship, famine, +filth, sickness, solitude, insult,—all that is most revolting to men +nurtured among arts and letters, all that is most terrific to monastic +credulity: such were the promise and the reality of the Huron mission. +In the eyes of the Jesuits, the Huron country was the innermost +stronghold of Satan, his castle and his donjon-keep. +<a href="#footer_5-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +All the weapons of his +malice were prepared against the bold invader who should assail him in +this, the heart of his ancient domain. Far from shrinking, the priest's +zeal rose to tenfold ardor. He signed the cross, invoked St. Ignatius, +St. Francis Xavier, or St. Francis Borgia, kissed his reliquary, said +nine masses to the Virgin, and stood prompt to battle with all the hosts +of Hell.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_5-1" name="footer_5-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + "Une des principales forteresses & comme un donjon des + Demons."—Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1639</i>, + 100 (Cramoisy). <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00449"> +A life sequestered from social intercourse, and remote from every prize +which ambition holds worth the pursuit, or a lonely death, under forms, +perhaps, the most appalling,—these were the missionaries' alternatives. +Their maligners may taunt +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> + them, if they will, with credulity, +superstition, or a blind enthusiasm; but slander itself cannot accuse +them of hypocrisy or ambition. Doubtless, in their propagandism, they +were acting in concurrence with a mundane policy; but, for the present at +least, this policy was rational and humane. They were promoting the ends +of commerce and national expansion. The foundations of French dominion +were to be laid deep in the heart and conscience of the savage. His +stubborn neck was to be subdued to the "yoke of the Faith." The power of +the priest established, that of the temporal ruler was secure. These +sanguinary hordes, weaned from intestine strife, were to unite in a +common allegiance to God and the King. Mingled with French traders and +French settlers, softened by French manners, guided by French priests, +ruled by French officers, their now divided bands would become the +constituents of a vast wilderness empire, which in time might span the +continent. Spanish civilization crushed the Indian; English civilization +scorned and neglected him; French civilization embraced and cherished him.</p> + +<p id="id00450"> +Policy and commerce, then, built their hopes on the priests. These +commissioned interpreters of the Divine Will, accredited with letters +patent from Heaven, and affiliated to God's anointed on earth, would have +pushed to its most unqualified application the Scripture metaphor of the +shepherd and the sheep. They would have tamed the wild man of the woods +to a condition of obedience, unquestioning, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> +passive, and +absolute,—repugnant to manhood, and adverse to the invigorating and +expansive spirit of modern civilization. Yet, full of error and full of +danger as was their system, they embraced its serene and smiling +falsehoods with the sincerity of martyrs and the self-devotion of +saints.</p> + +<p id="id00451"> +We have spoken already of the Hurons, of their populous villages on the +borders of the great "Fresh Sea," their trade, their rude agriculture, +their social life, their wild and incongruous superstitions, and the +sorcerers, diviners, and medicine-men who lived on their credulity. +<a href="#footer_5-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> + Iroquois hostility left open but one avenue to +their country, the long and circuitous route which, eighteen years before, +had been explored by Champlain, +<a href="#footer_5-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a>—up the +river Ottawa, across Lake Nipissing, down French River, and along the +shores of the great Georgian Bay of Lake Huron,—a route as difficult as +it was tedious. Midway, on Allumette Island, in the Ottawa, dwelt the +Algonquin tribe visited by Champlain in 1613, and who, amazed at the +apparition of the white stranger, thought that he had fallen from the +clouds. +<a href="#footer_5-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +Like other tribes of this region, +they were keen traders, and would gladly have secured for themselves the +benefits of an intermediate traffic between the Hurons and the French, +receiving the furs of the former in barter at a low rate, and exchanging +them with the latter at their full value. From their position, they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> +could at any time close the passage of the Ottawa; but, as this would +have been a perilous exercise of their rights, +<a href="#footer_5-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +they were forced to +act with discretion. An opportunity for the practice of their diplomacy +had lately occurred. On or near the Ottawa, at some distance below them, +dwelt a small Algonquin tribe, called <i>La Petite Nation</i>. One of this +people had lately killed a Frenchman, and the murderer was now in the +hands of Champlain, a prisoner at the fort of Quebec. The savage +politicians of Allumette Island contrived, as will soon be seen, to turn +this incident to profit.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00452" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_5-2" name="footer_5-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + See Introduction.<br /> + <a id="footer_5-3" name="footer_5-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + "Pioneers of France," 364.<br /> + <a id="footer_5-4" name="footer_5-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + <i>Ibid.</i>, 348. <br /> + <a id="footer_5-5" name="footer_5-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + Nevertheless, the Hurons always passed this way as a matter of favor, + and gave yearly presents to the Algonquins of the island, in + acknowledgment of the privilege—Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1636</i>, + 70.—By the unwritten laws of the Hurons and Algonquins, every + tribe had the right, even in full peace, of prohibiting the passage + of every other tribe across its territory. In ordinary cases, such + prohibitions were quietly submitted to.</p> + <p id="id00453"> + "Ces Insulaires voudraient bien que les Hurons ne vinssent point aux + François & que les François n'allassent point aux + Hurons, afin d'emporter eux seuls tout le trafic," + etc.—<i>Relation, 1633</i>, 205 + (Cramoisy),—"desirans + eux-mesmes aller recueiller les marchandises des peuples + circonvoisins pour les apporter aux François." This "Nation + de l'Isle" has been erroneously located at Montreal. Its true + position is indicated on the map of Du Creux, and on an ancient + MS. map in the <i>Dépôt des Cartes</i>, + of which a fac-simile is before me. See also "Pioneers of France," + 347.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00454"> +In the July that preceded Le Jeune's wintering with the Montagnais, +a Huron Indian, well known to the French, came to Quebec with the tidings, +that the annual canoe-fleet of his countrymen was descending the +St. Lawrence. On the twenty-eighth, the river was alive with them. +A hundred and forty canoes, with six or seven hundred savages, landed at +the warehouses beneath the fortified rock of Quebec, and set up their +huts and camp-sheds +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> +on the strand now covered by the lower town. +The greater number brought furs and tobacco for the trade; others came +as sight-seers; others to gamble, and others to steal, +<a href="#footer_5-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a>—accomplishments +in which the Hurons were proficient: their gambling +skill being exercised chiefly against each other, and their thieving +talents against those of other nations.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00455" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_5-6" name="footer_5-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + "Quelques vns d'entre eux ne viennent à la traite auec les + François que pour iouër, d'autres pour voir, quelques + vns pour dérober, et les plus sages et les plus riches pour + trafiquer."—Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1633</i>, 34.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00456"> +The routine of these annual visits was nearly uniform. On the first day, +the Indians built their huts; on the second, they held their council with +the French officers at the fort; on the third and fourth, they bartered +their furs and tobacco for kettles, hatchets, knives, cloth, beads, +iron arrow-heads, coats, shirts, and other commodities; on the fifth, +they were feasted by the French; and at daybreak of the next morning, +they embarked and vanished like a flight of birds. +<a href="#footer_5-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00457" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_5-7" name="footer_5-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + "Comme une volée d'oiseaux."—Le Jeune, <i>Relation, + 1633</i>, 190 (Cramoisy).—The tobacco brought to the French + by the Hurons may have been raised by the adjacent tribe of the + Tionnontates, who cultivated it largely for sale. See + Introduction.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00458"> +On the second day, then, the long file of chiefs and warriors mounted the +pathway to the fort,—tall, well-moulded figures, robed in the skins of +the beaver and the bear, each wild visage glowing with paint and +glistening with the oil which the Hurons extracted from the seeds of the +sunflower. The lank black hair of one streamed loose upon his shoulders; +that of another was close shaven, except an upright ridge, which, +bristling like the crest of a dragoon's helmet, crossed the crown from +the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> +forehead to the neck; while that of a third hung, long and flowing +from one side, but on the other was cut short. Sixty chiefs and +principal men, with a crowd of younger warriors, formed their +council-circle in the fort, those of each village grouped together, and all +seated on the ground with a gravity of bearing sufficiently curious to +those who had seen the same men in the domestic circle of their +lodge-fires. Here, too, were the Jesuits, robed in black, anxious and +intent; and here was Champlain, who, as he surveyed the throng, +recognized among the elder warriors not a few of those who, eighteen +years before, had been his companions in arms on his hapless foray +against the Iroquois. +<a href="#footer_5-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_5-8" name="footer_5-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + See "Pioneers of France," 370. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00459"> +Their harangues of compliment being made and answered, and the inevitable +presents given and received, Champlain introduced to the silent conclave +the three missionaries, Brébeuf, Daniel, and Davost. To their lot had +fallen the honors, dangers, and woes of the Huron mission. "These are +our fathers," he said. "We love them more than we love ourselves. +The whole French nation honors them. They do not go among you for your +furs. They have left their friends and their country to show you the way +to heaven. If you love the French, as you say you love them, then love +and honor these our fathers." +<a href="#footer_5-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_5-9" name="footer_5-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1633</i>, 274 (Cramoisy); + <i>Mercure Français</i>, 1634, 845. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00460"> +Two chiefs rose to reply, and each lavished all his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> +rhetoric in praises +of Champlain and of the French. Brébeuf rose next, and spoke in broken +Huron,—the assembly jerking in unison, from the bottom of their throats, +repeated ejaculations of applause. Then they surrounded him, and vied +with each other for the honor of carrying him in their canoes. In short, +the mission was accepted; and the chiefs of the different villages +disputed among themselves the privilege of receiving and entertaining the +three priests.</p> + +<p id="id00461"> +On the last of July, the day of the feast of St. Ignatius, Champlain and +several masters of trading vessels went to the house of the Jesuits in +quest of indulgences; and here they were soon beset by a crowd of curious +Indians, who had finished their traffic, and were making a tour of +observation. Being excluded from the house, they looked in at the +windows of the room which served as a chapel; and Champlain, amused at +their exclamations of wonder, gave one of them a piece of citron. +The Huron tasted it, and, enraptured, demanded what it was. Champlain +replied, laughing, that it was the rind of a French pumpkin. The fame of +this delectable production was instantly spread abroad; and, at every +window, eager voices and outstretched hands petitioned for a share of the +marvellous vegetable. They were at length allowed to enter the chapel, +which had lately been decorated with a few hangings, images, and pieces +of plate. These unwonted splendors filled them with admiration. They +asked if the dove over the altar was the bird that makes the thunder; and, +pointing to the images of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> +Loyola and Xavier, inquired if they were +<i>okies</i>, or spirits: nor was their perplexity much diminished by +Brébeuf's explanation of their true character. Three images of +the Virgin next engaged their attention; and, in answer to their questions, +they were told that they were the mother of Him who made the world. This +greatly amused them, and they demanded if he had three mothers. "Oh!" +exclaims the Father Superior, "had we but images of all the holy mysteries +of our faith! They are a great assistance, for they speak their own +lesson." +<a href="#footer_5-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +The mission was not doomed long to suffer from a +dearth of these inestimable auxiliaries.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_5-10" name="footer_5-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + <i>Relation, 1633</i>, 38. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00462"> +The eve of departure came. The three priests packed their baggage, +and Champlain paid their passage, or, in other words, made presents to +the Indians who were to carry them in their canoes. They lodged that +night in the storehouse of the fur company, around which the Hurons were +encamped; and Le Jeune and De Nouë stayed with them to bid them farewell +in the morning. At eleven at night, they were roused by a loud voice in +the Indian camp, and saw Le Borgne, the one-eyed chief of Allumette +Island, walking round among the huts, haranguing as he went. Brébeuf, +listening, caught the import of his words. "We have begged the French +captain to spare the life of the Algonquin of the Petite Nation whom he +keeps in prison; but he will not listen to us. The prisoner will die. +Then his people will revenge him. They will try to kill the three +black-robes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> +whom you are about to carry to your country. If you do not +defend them, the French will be angry, and charge you with their death. +But if you do, then the Algonquins will make war on you, and the river +will be closed. If the French captain will not let the prisoner go, +then leave the three black-robes where they are; for, if you take them +with you, they will bring you to trouble."</p> + +<p id="id00463"> +Such was the substance of Le Borgne's harangue. The anxious priests +hastened up to the fort, gained admittance, and roused Champlain from his +slumbers. He sent his interpreter with a message to the Hurons, that he +wished to speak to them before their departure; and, accordingly, in the +morning an Indian crier proclaimed through their camp that none should +embark till the next day. Champlain convoked the chiefs, and tried +persuasion, promises, and threats; but Le Borgne had been busy among them +with his intrigues, and now he declared in the council, that, unless the +prisoner were released, the missionaries would be murdered on their way, +and war would ensue. The politic savage had two objects in view. +On the one hand, he wished to interrupt the direct intercourse between +the French and the Hurons; and, on the other, he thought to gain credit +and influence with the nation of the prisoner by effecting his release. +His first point was won. Champlain would not give up the murderer, +knowing those with whom he was dealing too well to take a course which +would have proclaimed the killing of a Frenchman a venial offence. +The Hurons thereupon refused to carry the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> +missionaries to their country; +coupling the refusal with many regrets and many protestations of love, +partly, no doubt, sincere,—for the Jesuits had contrived to gain no +little favor in their eyes. The council broke up, the Hurons embarked, +and the priests returned to their convent.</p> + +<p id="id00464"> +Here, under the guidance of Brébeuf, they employed themselves, amid +their other avocations, in studying the Huron tongue. A year passed, and +again the Indian traders descended from their villages. In the meanwhile, +grievous calamities had befallen the nation. They had suffered +deplorable reverses at the hands of the Iroquois; while a pestilence, +similar to that which a few years before had swept off the native +populations of New England, had begun its ravages among them. They +appeared at Three Rivers—this year the place of trade—in small +numbers, and in a miserable state of dejection and alarm. Du Plessis Bochart, +commander of the French fleet, called them to a council, harangued them, +feasted them, and made them presents; but they refused to take the +Jesuits. In private, however, some of them were gained over; then again +refused; then, at the eleventh hour, a second time consented. On the eve +of embarkation, they once more wavered. All was confusion, doubt, +and uncertainty, when Brébeuf bethought him of a vow to St. Joseph. +The vow was made. At once, he says, the Indians became tractable; the +Fathers embarked, and, amid salvos of cannon from the ships, set forth +for the wild scene of their apostleship.</p> + +<p id="id00465"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> +They reckoned the distance at nine hundred miles; but distance was the +least repellent feature of this most arduous journey. Barefoot, lest +their shoes should injure the frail vessel, each crouched in his canoe, +toiling with unpractised hands to propel it. Before him, week after week, +he saw the same lank, unkempt hair, the same tawny shoulders, and long, +naked arms ceaselessly plying the paddle. The canoes were soon +separated; and, for more than a month, the Frenchmen rarely or never met. +Brébeuf spoke a little Huron, and could converse with his escort; but +Daniel and Davost were doomed to a silence unbroken save by the +occasional unintelligible complaints and menaces of the Indians, of whom +many were sick with the epidemic, and all were terrified, desponding, +and sullen. Their only food was a pittance of Indian corn, crushed +between two stones and mixed with water. The toil was extreme. Brébeuf +counted thirty-five portages, where the canoes were lifted from the water, +and carried on the shoulders of the voyagers around rapids or cataracts. +More than fifty times, besides, they were forced to wade in the raging +current, pushing up their empty barks, or dragging them with ropes. +Brébeuf tried to do his part; but the boulders and sharp rocks wounded +his naked feet, and compelled him to desist. He and his companions bore +their share of the baggage across the portages, sometimes a distance of +several miles. Four trips, at the least, were required to convey the +whole. The way was through the dense forest, incumbered with rocks +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> +and logs, tangled with roots and underbrush, damp with perpetual +shade, and redolent of decayed leaves and mouldering wood. +<a href="#footer_5-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +The Indians themselves were often spent with fatigue. Brébeuf, +a man of iron frame and a nature unconquerably resolute, doubted if +his strength would sustain him to the journey's end. He complains +that he had no moment to read his breviary, except by the moonlight +or the fire, when stretched out to sleep on a bare rock by some savage +cataract of the Ottawa, or in a damp nook of the adjacent forest.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00466" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_5-11" name="footer_5-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + "Adioustez à ces difficultez, qu'il faut coucher sur la + terre nuë, ou sur quelque dure roche, faute de trouuer dix + ou douze pieds de terre en quarré pour placer vne chetiue + cabane; qu'il faut sentir incessamment la puanteur des Sauuages + recreus, marcher dans les eaux, dans les fanges, dans + l'obscurité et l'embarras des forest, où les + piqueures d'vne multitude infinie de mousquilles et cousins + vous importunent fort."—Brébeuf, <i>Relation des + Hurons, 1635</i>, 25, 26. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00467"> +All the Jesuits, as well as several of their countrymen who accompanied +them, suffered more or less at the hands of their ill-humored conductors. +<a href="#footer_5-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +Davost's Indian robbed him of a part of his baggage, threw a part +into the river, including most of the books and writing-materials of the +three priests, and then left him behind, among the Algonquins of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> +Allumette Island. He found means to continue the journey, and at length +reached the Huron towns in a lamentable state of bodily prostration. +Daniel, too, was deserted, but fortunately found another party who +received him into their canoe. A young Frenchman, named Martin, was +abandoned among the Nipissings; another, named Baron, on reaching the +Huron country, was robbed by his conductors of all he had, except the +weapons in his hands. Of these he made good use, compelling the robbers +to restore a part of their plunder.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00468" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_5-12" name="footer_5-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + "En ce voyage, il nous a fallu tous commencer par ces experiences + à porter la Croix que Nostre Seigneur nous presente pour + son honneur, et pour le salut de ces pauures Barbares. Certes ie + me suis trouué quelquesfois si las, que le corps n'en + pouuoit plus. Mais d'ailleurs mon âme ressentoit de + tres-grands contentemens, considerant que ie souffrois pour Dieu: + nul ne le sçait, s'il ne l'experimente. Tous n'en ont pas + esté quittes à si bon + marché."—Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, + 1635</i>, 26.</p> + <p id="id00469"> + Three years afterwards, a paper was printed by the Jesuits of Paris, + called <i>Instruction pour les Pères de nostre Compagnie qui + seront enuoiez aux Hurons</i>, and containing directions for their + conduct on this route by the Ottawa. It is highly characteristic, + both of the missionaries and of the Indians. Some of the points are, + in substance, as follows.—You should love the Indians like + brothers, with whom you are to spend the rest of your life.—Never + make them wait for you in embarking.—Take a flint and steel to + light their pipes and kindle their fire at night; for these little + services win their hearts.—Try to eat their sagamite as + they cook it, bad and dirty as it is.—Fasten up the skirts + of your cassock, that you may not carry water or sand into the + canoe.—Wear no shoes or stockings in the canoe; but you may put + them on in crossing the portages.—Do not make yourself + troublesome, even to a single Indian.—Do not ask them too + many questions.—Bear their faults in silence, and appear + always cheerful.—Buy fish for them from the tribes you will pass; + and for this purpose take with you some awls, beads, knives, and + fish-hooks.—Be not ceremonious with the Indians; take at once + what they offer you: ceremony offends them.—Be very careful, + when in the canoe, that the brim of your hat does not annoy them. + Perhaps it would be better to wear your night-cap. There is no + such thing as impropriety among Indians.—Remember that it is + Christ and his cross that you are seeking; and if you aim at anything + else, you will get nothing but affliction for body and mind.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00470"> +Descending French River, and following the lonely shores of the great +Georgian Bay, the canoe which carried Brébeuf at length neared its +destination, thirty days after leaving Three Rivers. Before him, +stretched in savage slumber, lay the forest shore of the Hurons. Did his +spirit sink as he approached his dreary home, oppressed with a dark +foreboding of what the future should bring +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> +forth? There is some reason +to think so. Yet it was but the shadow of a moment; for his masculine +heart had lost the sense of fear, and his intrepid nature was fired with +a zeal before which doubts and uncertainties fled like the mists of the +morning. Not the grim enthusiasm of negation, tearing up the weeds of +rooted falsehood, or with bold hand felling to the earth the baneful +growth of overshadowing abuses: his was the ancient faith uncurtailed, +redeemed from the decay of centuries, kindled with a new life, and +stimulated to a preternatural growth and fruitfulness.</p> + +<p id="id00471"> +Brébeuf and his Huron companions having landed, the Indians, throwing the +missionary's baggage on the ground, left him to his own resources; and, +without heeding his remonstrances, set forth for their respective +villages, some twenty miles distant. Thus abandoned, the priest kneeled, +not to implore succor in his perplexity, but to offer thanks to the +Providence which had shielded him thus far. Then, rising, he pondered as +to what course he should take. He knew the spot well. It was on the +borders of the small inlet called Thunder Bay. In the neighboring Huron +town of Toanché he had lived three years, preaching and baptizing; +<a href="#footer_5-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +but Toanché had now ceased to exist. Here, Étienne +Brulé, Champlain's adventurous interpreter, had recently been +murdered by the inhabitants, who, in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> +excitement and alarm, dreading +the consequences of their deed, had deserted the spot, and built, at +the distance of a few miles, a new town, called Ihonatiria. +<a href="#footer_5-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +Brébeuf hid his baggage in the woods, including the vessels +for the Mass, more precious than all the rest, and began his search for +this new abode. He passed the burnt remains of Toanché, saw the charred +poles that had formed the frame of his little chapel of bark, and found, +as he thought, the spot where Brulé had fallen. +<a href="#footer_5-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +Evening was near, when, after following, bewildered and anxious, a +gloomy forest path, he issued upon a wild clearing, and saw before +him the bark roofs of Ihonatiria.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00472" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_5-13" name="footer_5-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + From 1626 to 1629. There is no record of the events of this first + mission, which was ended with the English occupation of Quebec. + Brébeuf had previously spent the winter of 1625-26 among the + Algonquins, like Le Jeune in 1633-34.—<i>Lettre du P. Charles + Lalemant au T. R. P. Mutio Vitelleschi, 1 Aug., 1626</i>, in + Carayon.<br /> + <a id="footer_5-14" name="footer_5-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + Concerning Brulé, see "Pioneers of France," 377-380.<br /> + <a id="footer_5-15" name="footer_5-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + "Ie vis pareillement l'endroit où le pauure Estienne + Brulé auoit esté barbarement et traîtreusement + assommé; ce qui me fit penser que quelque iour on nous + pourroit bien traitter de la sorte, et desirer au moins que ce fust + en pourchassant la gloire de N. Seigneur."—Brébeuf, + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1635</i>, 28, 29.—The missionary's + prognostics were but too well founded. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00474"> +A crowd ran out to meet him. "Echom has come again! Echom has come +again!" they cried, recognizing in the distance the stately figure, +robed in black, that advanced from the border of the forest. They led +him to the town, and the whole population swarmed about him. After a +short rest, he set out with a number of young Indians in quest of his +baggage, returning with it at one o'clock in the morning. There was a +certain Awandoay in the village, noted as one of the richest and most +hospitable of the Hurons,—a distinction not easily won where hospitality +was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> + universal. His house was large, and amply stored with beans and +corn; and though his prosperity had excited the jealousy of the villagers, +he had recovered their good-will by his generosity. With him Brébeuf +made his abode, anxiously waiting, week after week, the arrival of his +companions. One by one, they appeared: Daniel, weary and worn; Davost, +half dead with famine and fatigue; and their French attendants, each with +his tale of hardship and indignity. At length, all were assembled under +the roof of the hospitable Indian, and once more the Huron mission was +begun.</p> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_6" id="Chapter_6"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00475"><a href="#Contents6">CHAPTER VI.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1634, 1635.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00476" class="smcapheader">BRÉBEUF AND HIS ASSOCIATES.</p> + <p id="id00477" class="noindent space-bottom"> + The Huron Mission-House • Its Inmates • + Its Furniture • Its Guests • + The Jesuit as a Teacher • As an Engineer • + Baptisms • Huron Village Life • + Festivities and Sorceries • The Dream Feast • + The Priests accused of Magic • + The Drought and the Red Cross + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00479"> +<span class="smcap">Where</span> should the Fathers make their abode? +Their first thought had been to establish themselves at a place called +by the French <i>Rochelle</i>, the largest and most important town of the Huron +confederacy; but Brébeuf now resolved to remain at Ihonatiria. +Here he was well known; and here, too, he flattered himself, seeds of +the Faith had been planted, which, with good nurture, would in time +yield fruit.</p> + +<p id="id00480"> +By the ancient Huron custom, when a man or a family wanted a house, +the whole village joined in building one. In the present case, not +Ihonatiria only, but the neighboring town of Wenrio also, took part in +the work,—though not without the expectation of such gifts as the +priests had to bestow. Before October, the task was finished. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> +The house +was constructed after the Huron model. +<a href="#footer_6-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +It was thirty-six feet long and about twenty feet wide, framed with strong +sapling poles planted in the earth to form the sides, with the ends bent +into an arch for the roof,—the whole lashed firmly together, braced with +cross-poles, and closely covered with overlapping sheets of bark. +Without, the structure was strictly Indian; but within, the priests, +with the aid of their tools, made innovations which were the astonishment +of all the country. They divided their dwelling by transverse partitions +into three apartments, each with its wooden door,—a wondrous novelty in +the eyes of their visitors. The first served as a hall, an anteroom, +and a place of storage for corn, beans, and dried fish. The second—the +largest of the three—was at once kitchen, workshop, dining-room, +drawing-room, school-room, and bed-chamber. The third was the chapel. +Here they made their altar, and here were their images, pictures, and +sacred vessels. Their fire was on the ground, in the middle of the +second apartment, the smoke escaping by a hole in the roof. At the sides +were placed two wide platforms, after the Huron fashion, four feet from +the earthen floor. On these were chests in which they kept their +clothing and vestments, and beneath them they slept, reclining on sheets +of bark, and covered with skins and the garments they wore by day. +Rude stools, a hand-mill, a large Indian mortar of wood for crushing corn, +and a clock, completed the furniture of the room.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_6-1" name="footer_6-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + See Introduction. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00481"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> +There was no lack of visitors, for the house of the black-robes contained +marvels +<a href="#footer_6-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +the fame of which was noised abroad to the uttermost +confines of the Huron nation. Chief among them was the clock. The +guests would sit in expectant silence by the hour, squatted on the ground, +waiting to hear it strike. They thought it was alive, and asked what it +ate. As the last stroke sounded, one of the Frenchmen would cry +"Stop!"—and, to the admiration of the company, the obedient clock was +silent. The mill was another wonder, and they were never tired of +turning it. Besides these, there was a prism and a magnet; also a +magnifying-glass, wherein a flea was transformed to a frightful monster, +and a multiplying lens, which showed them the same object eleven times +repeated. "All this," says Brébeuf, "serves to gain their affection, +and make them more docile in respect to the admirable and +incomprehensible mysteries of our Faith; for the opinion they have of our +genius and capacity makes them believe whatever we tell them." +<a href="#footer_6-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00482" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_6-2" name="footer_6-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + "Ils ont pensé qu'elle entendoit, principalement quand, + pour rire, quelqu'vn de nos François s'escrioit au dernier + coup de marteau, c'est assez sonné, et que tout aussi tost + elle se taisoit. Ils l'appellent le Capitaine du iour. Quand + elle sonne, ils disent qu'elle parle, et demandent, quand ils + nous viennent veoir, combien de fois le Capitaine a desia + parlé. Ils nous interrogent de son manger. Ils demeurent les + heures entieres, et quelquesfois plusieurs, afin de la pouuoir ouyr + parler."—Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1635</i>, + 33.<br /> + <a id="footer_6-3" name="footer_6-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1635</i>, 33.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00483"> +"What does the Captain say?" was the frequent question; for by this title +of honor they designated the clock.</p> + +<p id="id00484"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> +"When he strikes twelve times, he says, 'Hang on the kettle'; and when he +strikes four times, he says, 'Get up, and go home.'"</p> + +<p id="id00485"> +Both interpretations were well remembered. At noon, visitors were never +wanting, to share the Fathers' sagamite; but at the stroke of four, +all rose and departed, leaving the missionaries for a time in peace. +Now the door was barred, and, gathering around the fire, they discussed +the prospects of the mission, compared their several experiences, and +took counsel for the future. But the standing topic of their evening +talk was the Huron language. Concerning this each had some new discovery +to relate, some new suggestion to offer; and in the task of analyzing its +construction and deducing its hidden laws, these intelligent and highly +cultivated minds found a congenial employment. +<a href="#footer_6-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_6-4" name="footer_6-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1639</i>, 17 (Cramoisy).<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00486"> +But while zealously laboring to perfect their knowledge of the language, +they spared no pains to turn their present acquirements to account. +Was man, woman, or child sick or suffering, they were always at hand with +assistance and relief,—adding, as they saw opportunity, explanations of +Christian doctrine, pictures of Heaven and Hell, and exhortations to +embrace the Faith. Their friendly offices did not cease here, but +included matters widely different. The Hurons lived in constant fear of +the Iroquois. At times the whole village population would fly to the +woods for concealment, or take refuge in one of the neighboring +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> +fortified towns, on the rumor of an approaching war-party. The Jesuits promised +them the aid of the four Frenchmen armed with arquebuses, who had come +with them from Three Rivers. They advised the Hurons to make their +palisade forts, not, as hitherto, in a circular form, but rectangular, +with small flanking towers at the corners for the arquebuse-men. The +Indians at once saw the value of the advice, and soon after began to act +on it in the case of their great town of Ossossané, or Rochelle. +<a href="#footer_6-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_6-5" name="footer_6-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 86.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00487"> +At every opportunity, the missionaries gathered together the children of +the village at their house. On these occasions, Brébeuf, for greater +solemnity, put on a surplice, and the close, angular cap worn by Jesuits +in their convents. First he chanted the <i>Pater Noster</i>, translated by +Father Daniel into Huron rhymes,—the children chanting in their turn. +Next he taught them the sign of the cross; made them repeat the <i>Ave</i>, +the <i>Credo</i>, and the Commandments; questioned them as to past instructions; +gave them briefly a few new ones; and dismissed them with a present of +two or three beads, raisins, or prunes. A great emulation was kindled +among this small fry of heathendom. The priests, with amusement and +delight, saw them gathered in groups about the village, vying with each +other in making the sign of the cross, or in repeating the rhymes they +had learned.</p> + +<p id="id00488"> +At times, the elders of the people, the repositories of its ancient +traditions, were induced to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> +assemble at the house of the Jesuits, who +explained to them the principal points of their doctrine, and invited +them to a discussion. The auditors proved pliant to a fault, responding, +"Good," or "That is true," to every proposition; but, when urged to adopt +the faith which so readily met their approval, they had always the same +reply: "It is good for the French; but we are another people, with +different customs." On one occasion, Brébeuf appeared before the chiefs +and elders at a solemn national council, described Heaven and Hell with +images suited to their comprehension, asked to which they preferred to go +after death, and then, in accordance with the invariable Huron custom in +affairs of importance, presented a large and valuable belt of wampum, +as an invitation to take the path to Paradise. +<a href="#footer_6-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_6-6" name="footer_6-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 81. For the use of + wampum belts, see Introduction.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00489"> +Notwithstanding all their exhortations, the Jesuits, for the present, +baptized but few. Indeed, during the first year or more, they baptized +no adults except those apparently at the point of death; for, with +excellent reason, they feared backsliding and recantation. They found +especial pleasure in the baptism of dying infants, rescuing them from the +flames of perdition, and changing them, to borrow Le Jeune's phrase, +"from little Indians into little angels." +<a href="#footer_6-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00490" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_6-7" name="footer_6-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + "Le seiziesme du mesme mois, deux petits Sauvages furent + changez en deux petits Anges."—<i>Relation, 1636</i>, + 89 (Cramoisy).</p> + <p id="id00491"> + "O mon cher frère, vous pourrois-je expliquer quelle + consolation ce m'etoit quand je voyois un pauure baptisé + mourir deux heures, une demi journée, une ou deux + journées, après son baptesme, particulièrement + quand c'etoit un petit enfant!"—<i>Lettre du Père + Garnier à son Frère</i>, MS.—This form of + benevolence is beyond heretic appreciation.</p> + <p id="id00492"> + "La joye qu'on a quand on a baptisé un Sauvage qui se meurt + peu apres, & qui s'envole droit au Ciel, pour devenir un Ange, + certainement c'est un joye qui surpasse tout ce qu'on se peut + imaginer."—Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1635</i>, 221 (Cramoisy).<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00493"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> +The Fathers' slumbers were brief and broken. Winter was the season of +Huron festivity; and, as they lay stretched on their hard couch, +suffocating with smoke and tormented by an inevitable multitude of fleas, +the thumping of the drum resounded all night long from a neighboring +house, mingled with the sound of the tortoise-shell rattle, the stamping +of moccasined feet, and the cadence of voices keeping time with the +dancers. Again, some ambitious villager would give a feast, and invite +all the warriors of the neighboring towns; or some grand wager of +gambling, with its attendant drumming, singing, and outcries, filled the +night with discord.</p> + +<p id="id00494"> +But these were light annoyances, compared with the insane rites to cure +the sick, prescribed by the "medicine-men," or ordained by the eccentric +inspiration of dreams. In one case, a young sorcerer, by alternate +gorging and fasting,—both in the interest of his profession,—joined +with excessive exertion in singing to the spirits, contracted a disorder +of the brain, which caused him, in mid-winter, to run naked about the +village, howling like a wolf. The whole population bestirred itself to +effect a cure. The patient had, or pretended to have, a dream, in which +the conditions of his recovery +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> +were revealed to him. These were equally +ridiculous and difficult; but the elders met in council, and all the +villagers lent their aid, till every requisition was fulfilled, and the +incongruous mass of gifts which the madman's dream had demanded were all +bestowed upon him. This cure failing, a "medicine-feast" was tried; then +several dances in succession. As the patient remained as crazy as before, +preparations were begun for a grand dance, more potent than all the rest. +Brébeuf says, that, except the masquerades of the Carnival among +Christians, he never saw a folly equal to it. "Some," he adds, "had +sacks over their heads, with two holes for the eyes. Some were as naked +as your hand, with horns or feathers on their heads, their bodies painted +white, and their faces black as devils. Others were daubed with red, +black, and white. In short, every one decked himself as extravagantly as +he could, to dance in this ballet, and contribute something towards the +health of the sick man." +<a href="#footer_6-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +This remedy +also failing, a crowning effort of the medical art was essayed. Brébeuf +does not describe it, for fear, as he says, of being tedious; but, +for the time, the village was a pandemonium. +<a href="#footer_6-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +This, with other +ceremonies, was supposed to be ordered by a certain image like a doll, +which a sorcerer placed in his tobacco-pouch, whence it uttered its +oracles, at the same time +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> +moving as if alive. "Truly," writes Brébeuf, +"here is nonsense enough: but I greatly fear there is something more dark +and mysterious in it."</p> + +<div id="id00495" class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_6-8" name="footer_6-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 116.<br /> + <a id="footer_6-9" name="footer_6-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + "Suffit pour le present de dire en general, que iamais les + Bacchantes forcenées du temps passé ne firent + rien de plus furieux en leurs orgyes. C'est icy à + s'entretuer, disent-ils, par des sorts qu'ils s'entreiettent, + dont la composition est d'ongles d'Ours, de dents de Loup, + d'ergots d'Aigles, de certaines pierres et de nerfs de Chien; + c'est à rendre du sang par la bouche et par les narines, + ou plustost d'vne poudre rouge qu'ils prennent subtilement, + estans tombez sous le sort, et blessez; et dix mille autres + sottises que ie laisse volontiers."—Brébeuf, + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 117.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00496"> +But all these ceremonies were outdone by the grand festival of the +<i>Ononhara</i>, or Dream Feast,—esteemed the most powerful remedy +in cases of sickness, or when a village was infested with evil spirits. +The time and manner of holding it were determined at a solemn council. +This scene of madness began at night. Men, women, and children, all +pretending to have lost their senses, rushed shrieking and howling from +house to house, upsetting everything in their way, throwing firebrands, +beating those they met or drenching them with water, and availing +themselves of this time of license to take a safe revenge on any who had +ever offended them. This scene of frenzy continued till daybreak. No +corner of the village was secure from the maniac crew. In the morning +there was a change. They ran from house to house, accosting the inmates +by name, and demanding of each the satisfaction of some secret want, +revealed to the pretended madman in a dream, but of the nature of which +he gave no hint whatever. The person addressed thereupon threw to him +at random any article at hand, as a hatchet, a kettle, or a pipe; and +the applicant continued his rounds till the desired gift was hit upon, +when he gave an +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> +outcry of delight, echoed by gratulatory cries from all +present. If, after all his efforts, he failed in obtaining the object +of his dream, he fell into a deep dejection, convinced that some disaster +was in store for him. +<a href="#footer_6-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00497" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_6-10" name="footer_6-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + Brébeuf's account of the Dream Feast is brief. + The above particulars are drawn chiefly from Charlevoix, + <i>Journal Historique</i>, 356, and Sagard, <i>Voyage du + Pays des Hurons</i>, 280. See also Lafitau, and other early + writers. This ceremony was not confined to the Hurons, but + prevailed also among the Iroquois, and doubtless other + kindred tribes. The Jesuit Dablon saw it in perfection + at Onondaga. It usually took place in February, occupying + about three days, and was often attended with great + indecencies. The word <i>ononhara</i> means <i>turning + of the brain</i>.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00498"> +The approach of summer brought with it a comparative peace. Many of the +villagers dispersed,—some to their fishing, some to expeditions of trade, +and some to distant lodges by their detached corn-fields. The priests +availed themselves of the respite to engage in those exercises of private +devotion which the rule of St. Ignatius enjoins. About midsummer, +however, their quiet was suddenly broken. The crops were withering under +a severe drought, a calamity which the sandy nature of the soil made +doubly serious. The sorcerers put forth their utmost power, and, from +the tops of the houses, yelled incessant invocations to the spirits. +All was in vain; the pitiless sky was cloudless. There was thunder in +the east and thunder in the west; but over Ihonatiria all was serene. +A renowned "rain-maker," seeing his reputation tottering under his +repeated failures, bethought him of accusing the Jesuits, and gave out +that the red color of the cross which stood before their house scared the +bird of thunder, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> +and caused him to fly another way. +<a href="#footer_6-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +On this a clamor arose. The popular ire turned against the priests, and the +obnoxious cross was condemned to be hewn down. Aghast at the threatened +sacrilege, they attempted to reason away the storm, assuring the crowd +that the lightning was not a bird, but certain hot and fiery exhalations, +which, being imprisoned, darted this way and that, trying to escape. +As this philosophy failed to convince the hearers, the missionaries +changed their line of defence.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00499" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_6-11" name="footer_6-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + The following is the account of the nature of thunder, given to + Brébeuf on a former occasion by another sorcerer.</p> + <p id="id00500"> + "It is a man in the form of a turkey-cock. The sky is his palace, + and he remains in it when the air is clear. When the clouds begin to + grumble, he descends to the earth to gather up snakes, and other objects + which the Indians call <i>okies</i>. The lightning flashes whenever he + opens or closes his wings. If the storm is more violent than usual, it + is because his young are with him, and aiding in the noise as well as + they can."—<i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 114.</p> + <p id="id00501"> + The word <i>oki</i> is here used to denote any object endued with + supernatural power. A belief similar to the above exists to this + day among the Dacotahs. Some of the Hurons and Iroquois, however, + held that the thunder was a giant in human form. According to + one story, he vomited from time to time a number of snakes, which, + falling to the earth, caused the appearance of lightning.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00502"> +"You say that the red color of the cross frightens the bird of thunder. +Then paint the cross white, and see if the thunder will come." +</p> + +<p id="id00503"> +This was accordingly done; but the clouds still kept aloof. The Jesuits +followed up their advantage.</p> + +<p id="id00504"> +"Your spirits cannot help you, and your sorcerers have deceived you with +lies. Now ask the aid of Him who made the world, and perhaps He will +listen to your prayers." And they added, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> +that, if the Indians would +renounce their sins and obey the true God, they would make a procession +daily to implore his favor towards them.</p> + +<p id="id00505"> +There was no want of promises. The processions were begun, as were also +nine masses to St. Joseph; and, as heavy rains occurred soon after, +the Indians conceived a high idea of the efficacy of the French +"medicine." +<a href="#footer_6-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00506" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_6-12" name="footer_6-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + "Nous deuons aussi beaucoup au glorieux sainct Ioseph, + espoux de Nostre Dame, et protecteur des Hurons, dont + nous auons touché au doigt l'assistance plusieurs + fois. Ce fut vne chose remarquable, que le iour de sa + feste et durant l'Octaue, les commoditez nous venoient de + toutes parts."—Brébeuf, <i>Relation des + Hurons, 1635</i>, 41.</p> + <p id="id00507"> + The above extract is given as one out of many illustrations of the + confidence with which the priests rested on the actual and direct aid of + their celestial guardians. To St. Joseph, in particular, they find no + words for their gratitude.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00508"> +In spite of the hostility of the sorcerers, and the transient commotion +raised by the red cross, the Jesuits had gained the confidence and +good-will of the Huron population. Their patience, their kindness, +their intrepidity, their manifest disinterestedness, the blamelessness of +their lives, and the tact which, in the utmost fervors of their zeal, +never failed them, had won the hearts of these wayward savages; and +chiefs of distant villages came to urge that they would make their abode +with them. +<a href="#footer_6-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +As yet, the results of the mission had been faint and few; but +the priests toiled on courageously, high in hope that an abundant harvest +of souls would one day reward their labors.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_6-13" name="footer_6-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + Brébeuf preserves a speech made to him by one of these + chiefs, as a specimen of Huron eloquence.—<i>Relation + des Hurons, 1636</i>, 123.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_7" id="Chapter_7"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00509"><a href="#Contents7">CHAPTER VII.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1636, 1637.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00510" class="smcapheader">THE FEAST OF THE DEAD.</p> + <p id="id00511" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Huron Graves • Preparation for the Ceremony • + Disinterment • The Mourning • The Funeral March • + The Great Sepulchre • Funeral Games • + Encampment of the Mourners • Gifts • Harangues • + Frenzy of the Crowd • The Closing Scene • + Another Rite • The Captive Iroquois • + The Sacrifice. + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00513"> +<span class="smcap"> +Mention</span> has been made of those great depositories of human bones found at +the present day in the ancient country of the Hurons. +<a href="#footer_7-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +They have been a theme of abundant speculation; +<a href="#footer_7-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +yet their origin is a subject, not of conjecture, but of historic +certainty. The peculiar rites to which they owe their existence were +first described at length by Brébeuf, who, in the summer of the year 1636, +saw them at the town of Ossossané.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_7-1" name="footer_7-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + See Introduction.<br /> + <a id="footer_7-2" name="footer_7-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Among those who have wondered and speculated over these remains is + Mr. Schoolcraft. A slight acquaintance with the early writers would + have solved his doubts.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00515"> +The Jesuits had long been familiar with the ordinary rites of sepulture +among the Hurons: the corpse placed in a crouching posture in the midst +of the circle of friends and relatives; the long, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> + measured wail of the +mourners; the speeches in praise of the dead, and consolation to the +living; the funeral feast; the gifts at the place of burial; the funeral +games, where the young men of the village contended for prizes; and the +long period of mourning to those next of kin. The body was usually laid +on a scaffold, or, more rarely, in the earth. This, however, was not its +final resting-place. At intervals of ten or twelve years, each of the +four nations which composed the Huron Confederacy gathered together its +dead, and conveyed them all to a common place of sepulture. Here was +celebrated the great "Feast of the Dead,"—in the eyes of the Hurons, +their most solemn and important ceremonial.</p> + +<p id="id00516"> +In the spring of 1636, the chiefs and elders of the Nation of the +Bear—the principal nation of the Confederacy, and that to which +Ihonatiria belonged—assembled in a general council, to prepare for the +great solemnity. There was an unwonted spirit of dissension. Some +causes of jealousy had arisen, and three or four of the Bear villages +announced their intention of holding their Feast of the Dead apart from +the rest. As such a procedure was thought abhorrent to every sense of +propriety and duty, the announcement excited an intense feeling; yet +Brébeuf, who was present, describes the debate which ensued as perfectly +calm, and wholly free from personal abuse or recrimination. The +secession, however, took place, and each party withdrew to its villages +to gather and prepare its dead.</p> + +<p id="id00517"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> +The corpses were lowered from their scaffolds, and lifted from their +graves. Their coverings were removed by certain functionaries appointed +for the office, and the hideous relics arranged in a row, surrounded by +the weeping, shrieking, howling concourse. The spectacle was frightful. +Here were all the village dead of the last twelve years. The priests, +connoisseurs in such matters, regarded it as a display of mortality so +edifying, that they hastened to summon their French attendants to +contemplate and profit by it. Each family reclaimed its own, and +immediately addressed itself to removing what remained of flesh from the +bones. These, after being tenderly caressed, with tears and lamentations, +were wrapped in skins and adorned with pendent robes of fur. In the +belief of the mourners, they were sentient and conscious. A soul was +thought still to reside in them; +<a href="#footer_7-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +and to this notion, very general +among Indians, is in no small degree due that extravagant attachment to +the remains of their dead, which may be said to mark the race.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_7-3" name="footer_7-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + In the general belief, the soul took flight after the great ceremony + was ended. Many thought that there were two souls, one remaining with + the bones, while the other went to the land of spirits.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00519"> +These relics of mortality, together with the recent corpses,—which were +allowed to remain entire, but which were also wrapped carefully in +furs,—were now carried to one of the largest houses, and hung to the +numerous cross-poles, which, like rafters, supported the roof. Here the +concourse of mourners seated themselves at a funeral feast; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> + and, as the +squaws of the household distributed the food, a chief harangued the +assembly, lamenting the loss of the deceased, and extolling their +virtues. This solemnity over, the mourners began their march for +Ossossané, the scene of the final rite. The bodies remaining entire were +borne on a kind of litter, while the bundles of bones were slung at the +shoulders of the relatives, like fagots. Thus the procession slowly +defiled along the forest pathways, with which the country of the Hurons +was everywhere intersected; and as they passed beneath the dull shadow of +the pines, they uttered at intervals, in unison, a dreary, wailing cry, +designed to imitate the voices of disembodied souls winging their way to +the land of spirits, and believed to have an effect peculiarly soothing +to the conscious relics which each man bore. When, at night, they +stopped to rest at some village on the way, the inhabitants came forth to +welcome them with a grave and mournful hospitality.</p> + +<p id="id00520"> +From every town of the Nation of the Bear,—except the rebellious few +that had seceded,—processions like this were converging towards +Ossossané. This chief town of the Hurons stood on the eastern margin of +Nottawassaga Bay, encompassed with a gloomy wilderness of fir and pine. +Thither, on the urgent invitation of the chiefs, the Jesuits repaired. +The capacious bark houses were filled to overflowing, and the surrounding +woods gleamed with camp-fires: for the processions of mourners were fast +arriving, and the throng was swelled by invited guests of other tribes. +Funeral +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> + games were in progress, the young men and women practising +archery and other exercises, for prizes offered by the mourners in the +name of their dead relatives. +<a href="#footer_7-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +Some of +the chiefs conducted Brébeuf and his companions to the place prepared for +the ceremony. It was a cleared area in the forest, many acres in extent. +In the midst was a pit, about ten feet deep and thirty feet wide. +Around it was reared a high and strong scaffolding; and on this were +planted numerous upright poles, with cross-poles extended between, +for hanging the funeral gifts and the remains of the dead.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_7-4" name="footer_7-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Funeral games were not confined to the Hurons and + Iroquois: Perrot mentions having seen them among + the Ottawas. An illustrated description of them + will be found in Lafitau. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00521"> +Meanwhile there was a long delay. The Jesuits were lodged in a house +where more than a hundred of these bundles of mortality were hanging from +the rafters. Some were mere shapeless rolls; others were made up into +clumsy effigies, adorned with feathers, beads, and belts of dyed +porcupine-quills. Amidst this throng of the living and the dead, the +priests spent a night which the imagination and the senses conspired to +render almost insupportable.</p> + +<p id="id00522"> +At length the officiating chiefs gave the word to prepare for the +ceremony. The relics were taken down, opened for the last time, and the +bones caressed and fondled by the women amid paroxysms of lamentation. +<a href="#footer_7-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +Then all the processions were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> +formed anew, and, each bearing its +dead, moved towards the area prepared for the last solemn rites. As they +reached the ground, they defiled in order, each to a spot assigned to it, +on the outer limits of the clearing. Here the bearers of the dead laid +their bundles on the ground, while those who carried the funeral gifts +outspread and displayed them for the admiration of the beholders. +Their number was immense, and their value relatively very great. Among +them were many robes of beaver and other rich furs, collected and +preserved for years, with a view to this festival. Fires were now +lighted, kettles slung, and, around the entire circle of the clearing, +the scene was like a fair or caravansary. This continued till three +o'clock in the afternoon, when the gifts were repacked, and the bones +shouldered afresh. Suddenly, at a signal from the chiefs, the crowd ran +forward from every side towards the scaffold, like soldiers to the +assault of a town, scaled it by rude ladders with which it was furnished, +and hung their relics and their gifts to the forest of poles which +surmounted it. Then the ladders were removed; and a number of chiefs, +standing on the scaffold, harangued the crowd below, praising the dead, +and extolling the gifts, which the relatives of the departed now bestowed, +in their names, upon their surviving friends.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00523" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_7-5" name="footer_7-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + "I'admiray la tendresse d'vne femme enuers son pere et ses enfans; + elle est fille d'vn Capitaine, qui est mort fort âgé, + et a esté autrefois fort considerable dans le Païs: + elle luy peignoit sa cheuelure, elle manioit ses os les vns apres + les autres, auec la mesme affection que si elle luy eust voulu + rendre la vie; elle luy mit aupres de luy son Atsatone8ai, c'est + à dire son pacquet de buchettes de Conseil, qui sont + tous les liures et papiers du Païs. Pour ses petits enfans, + elle leur mit des brasselets de Pourcelaine et de rassade aux bras, + et baigna leurs os de ses larmes; on ne l'en pouuoit quasi separer, + mais on pressoit, et il fallut incontinent + partir."—Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, + 134. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00524"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> +During these harangues, other functionaries were lining the grave +throughout with rich robes of beaver-skin. Three large copper kettles +were next placed in the middle, +<a href="#footer_7-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +and then ensued a scene of hideous confusion. The bodies which had +been left entire were brought to the edge of the grave, flung in, +and arranged in order at the bottom by ten or twelve Indians +stationed there for the purpose, amid the wildest excitement +and the uproar of many hundred mingled voices. +<a href="#footer_7-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +When this part of the work was done, night was fast closing in. The concourse +bivouacked around the clearing, and lighted their camp-fires under the +brows of the forest which hedged in the scene of the dismal solemnity. +Brébeuf and his companions withdrew to the village, where, an hour before +dawn, they were roused by a clamor which might have wakened the dead. +One of the bundles of bones, tied to a pole on the scaffold, had chanced +to fall into the grave. This accident had precipitated the closing act, +and perhaps increased its frenzy. Guided by the unearthly din, and the +broad glare of flames fed with heaps of fat pine logs, the priests soon +reached the spot, and saw what seemed, in their eyes, an image of Hell. +All around blazed countless fires, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> +the air resounded with discordant outcries. +<a href="#footer_7-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +The naked multitude, on, under, and around the scaffold, +were flinging the remains of their dead, discharged from their +envelopments of skins, pell-mell into the pit, where Brébeuf discerned +men who, as the ghastly shower fell around them, arranged the bones in +their places with long poles. All was soon over; earth, logs, and stones +were cast upon the grave, and the clamor subsided into a funereal +chant,—so dreary and lugubrious, that it seemed to the Jesuits the wail +of despairing souls from the abyss of perdition. +<a href="#footer_7-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00525" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_7-6" name="footer_7-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + In some of these graves, recently discovered, five or six large + copper kettles have been found, in a position corresponding with the + account of Brébeuf. In one, there were no less than twenty-six + kettles.<br /> + <a id="footer_7-7" name="footer_7-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + "Iamais rien ne m'a mieux figuré la confusion qui est parmy les + damnez. Vous eussiez veu décharger de tous costez des corps + à demy pourris, et de tous costez on entendoit vn horrible + tintamarre de voix confuses de personnes qui parloient et ne + s'entendoient pas."—Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, + 1636</i>, 135.<br /> + <a id="footer_7-8" name="footer_7-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + "Approchans, nous vismes tout à fait une image de l'Enfer: cette + grande place estoit toute remplie de feux & de flammes, & l'air + retentissoit de toutes parts des voix confuses de ces Barbares," + etc.—Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636,</i> 209 + (Cramoisy).<br /> + <a id="footer_7-9" name="footer_7-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + "Se mirent à chanter, mais d'un ton si lamentable & si + lugubre, qu'il nous representoit l'horrible tristesse & l'abysme + du desespoir dans lequel sont plongées pour iamais ces + âmes malheureuses."—<i>Ibid.</i>, 210.</p> + <p id="id00529"> + For other descriptions of these rites, see Charlevoix, Bressani, + Du Creux, and especially Lafitau, in whose work they are illustrated + with engravings. In one form or another, they were widely prevalent. + Bartram found them among the Floridian tribes. Traces of a similar + practice have been observed in recent times among the Dacotahs. + Remains of places of sepulture, evidently of kindred origin, have + been found in Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, and Ohio. Many have + been discovered in several parts of New York, especially near the + River Niagara. (See Squier, <i>Aboriginal Monuments of New York</i>.) + This was the eastern extremity of the ancient territory of the Neuters. + One of these deposits is said to have contained the bones of several + thousand individuals. There is a large mound on Tonawanda Island, + said by the modern Senecas to be a Neuter burial-place. (See + Marshall, <i>Historical Sketches of the Niagara Frontier</i>, 8.) + In Canada West, they are found throughout the region once occupied + by the Neuters, and are frequent in the Huron district.</p> + <p id="id00530"> + Dr. Taché writes to me,—"I have inspected sixteen + <i>bone-pits</i>," (in the Huron country,) "the situation of which is + indicated on the little pencil map I send you. They contain from + six hundred to twelve hundred skeletons each, of both sexes and all + ages, all mixed together <i>purposely</i>. With one exception, these pits + also contain pipes of stone or clay, small earthen pots, shells, + and wampum wrought of these shells, copper ornaments, beads of glass, + and other trinkets. Some pits contained articles of copper of + <i>aboriginal Mexican fabric</i>."</p> + <p id="id00531"> + This remarkable fact, together with the frequent occurrence in these + graves of large conch-shells, of which wampum was made, and which could + have been procured only from the Gulf of Mexico, or some part of the + southern coast of the United States, proves the extent of the relations + of traffic by which certain articles were passed from tribe to tribe over + a vast region. The transmission of pipes from the famous Red Pipe-Stone + Quarry of the St. Peter's to tribes more than a thousand miles distant is + an analogous modern instance, though much less remarkable.</p> + <p id="id00532"> + The Taché Museum, at the Laval University of Quebec, contains a + large collection of remains from these graves. In one instance, the + human bones are of a size that may be called gigantic.</p> + <p id="id00533"> + In nearly every case, the Huron graves contain articles of use or + ornament of European workmanship. From this it may be inferred, that the + nation itself, or its practice of inhumation, does not date back to a + period long before the arrival of the French.</p> + <p id="id00534"> + The Northern Algonquins had also a solemn Feast of the Dead; but it was + widely different from that of the Hurons.—See the very curious + account of it by Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1642</i>, 94, 95. + <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00535"> +Such was the origin of one of those strange sepulchres which are the +wonder and perplexity of the modern settler in the abandoned forests of +the Hurons.</p> + +<p id="id00536"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> +The priests were soon to witness another and a more terrible rite, +yet one in which they found a consolation, since it signalized the saving +of a soul,—the snatching from perdition of one of that dreaded race, +into whose very midst they hoped, with devoted daring, to bear hereafter +the cross of salvation. A band of Huron warriors had surprised a small +party of Iroquois, killed several, and captured the rest. One of the +prisoners was led in triumph to a village where the priests then were. +He had suffered greatly; his hands, especially, were frightfully +lacerated. Now, however, he was received with every mark of kindness. +"Take courage," said a chief, addressing him; "you are +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> + among friends." +The best food was prepared for him, and his captors vied with each other +in offices of good-will. +<a href="#footer_7-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +He had been given, according to Indian custom, to a warrior who had lost +a near relative in battle, and the captive was supposed to be adopted in +place of the slain. His actual doom was, however, not for a moment in +doubt. The Huron received him affectionately, and, having seated him in +his lodge, addressed him in a tone of extreme kindness. "My nephew, +when I heard that you were coming, I was very glad, thinking that you +would remain with me to take the place of him I have lost. But now that +I see your condition, and your hands crushed and torn so that you will +never use them, I change my mind. Therefore take courage, and prepare to +die tonight like a brave man."</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_7-10" name="footer_7-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + This pretended kindness in the treatment of a + prisoner destined to the torture was not exceptional. The Hurons + sometimes even supplied their intended victim with a temporary wife. + <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00537"> +The prisoner coolly asked what should be the manner of his death.</p> + +<p id="id00538"> +"By fire," was the reply.</p> + +<p id="id00539"> +"It is well," returned the Iroquois.</p> + +<p id="id00540"> +Meanwhile, the sister of the slain Huron, in whose place the prisoner was +to have been adopted, brought him a dish of food, and, her eyes flowing +with tears, placed it before him with an air of the utmost tenderness; +while, at the same time, the warrior brought him a pipe, wiped the sweat +from his brow, and fanned him with a fan of feathers.</p> + +<p id="id00541"> +About noon he gave his farewell feast, after the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> +custom of those who knew +themselves to be at the point of death. All were welcome to this strange +banquet; and when the company were gathered, the host addressed them in a +loud, firm voice: "My brothers, I am about to die. Do your worst to me. +I do not fear torture or death." Some of those present seemed to have +visitings of real compassion; and a woman asked the priests if it would +be wrong to kill him, and thus save him from the fire.</p> + +<p id="id00542"> +The Jesuits had from the first lost no opportunity of accosting him; +while he, grateful for a genuine kindness amid the cruel hypocrisy that +surrounded him, gave them an attentive ear, till at length, satisfied +with his answers, they baptized him. His eternal bliss secure, all else +was as nothing; and they awaited the issue with some degree of composure.</p> + +<p id="id00543"> +A crowd had gathered from all the surrounding towns, and after nightfall +the presiding chief harangued them, exhorting them to act their parts +well in the approaching sacrifice, since they would be looked upon by the +Sun and the God of War. +<a href="#footer_7-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +It is needless to dwell on the scene that ensued. It took place in +the lodge of the great war-chief, Atsan. Eleven fires blazed on the +ground, along the middle of this capacious dwelling. The platforms +on each side were closely packed with spectators; and, betwixt these +and the fires, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> +younger warriors stood in lines, each bearing +lighted pine-knots or rolls of birch-bark. The heat, the smoke, the +glare of flames, the wild yells, contorted visages, and furious +gestures of these human devils, as their victim, goaded by their +torches, bounded through the fires again and again, from end to end +of the house, transfixed the priests with horror. But when, as day +dawned, the last spark of life had fled, they consoled themselves +with the faith that the tortured wretch had found his rest at last +in Paradise. +<a href="#footer_7-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00544" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_7-11" name="footer_7-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + Areskoui (see Introduction). He was often regarded as + identical with the Sun. The semi-sacrificial character of + the torture in this case is also shown by the injunction, + "que pour ceste nuict on n'allast point folastrer dans les + bois."—Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1637</i>, + 114.<br /> + <a id="footer_7-12" name="footer_7-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + Le Mercier's long and minute account of the torture of this prisoner is + too revolting to be dwelt upon. One of the most atrocious features of + the scene was the alternation of raillery and ironical compliment which + attended it throughout, as well as the pains taken to preserve life and + consciousness in the victim as long as possible. Portions of his flesh + were afterwards devoured.</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_8" id="Chapter_8"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00545"><a href="#Contents8">CHAPTER VIII.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1636, 1637.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00546" class="smcapheader">THE HURON AND THE JESUIT.</p> + <p id="id00547" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Enthusiasm for the Mission • Sickness of the Priests • + The Pest among the Hurons • The Jesuit on his Rounds • + Efforts at Conversion • Priests and Sorcerers • + The Man-Devil • The Magician's Prescription • + Indian Doctors and Patients • Covert Baptisms • + Self-Devotion of the Jesuits + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00549"> +<span class="smcap">Meanwhile</span> from Old France to New came +succors and reinforcements to the missions of the forest. More +Jesuits crossed the sea to urge on the work of conversion. These +were no stern exiles, seeking on barbarous shores an asylum for a +persecuted faith. Rank, wealth, power, and royalty itself, smiled +on their enterprise, and bade them God-speed. Yet, withal, a +fervor more intense, a self-abnegation more complete, a self-devotion +more constant and enduring, will scarcely find its record on the page of +human history.</p> + +<p id="id00550"> +Holy Mother Church, linked in sordid wedlock to governments and thrones, +numbered among her servants a host of the worldly and the proud, whose +service of God was but the service of themselves,—and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> +many, too, who, +in the sophistry of the human heart, thought themselves true soldiers of +Heaven, while earthly pride, interest, and passion were the life-springs +of their zeal. This mighty Church of Rome, in her imposing march along +the high road of history, heralded as infallible and divine, astounds the +gazing world with prodigies of contradiction: now the protector of the +oppressed, now the right arm of tyrants; now breathing charity and love, +now dark with the passions of Hell; now beaming with celestial truth, +now masked in hypocrisy and lies; now a virgin, now a harlot; an imperial +queen, and a tinselled actress. Clearly, she is of earth, not of heaven; +and her transcendently dramatic life is a type of the good and ill, +the baseness and nobleness, the foulness and purity, the love and hate, +the pride, passion, truth, falsehood, fierceness, and tenderness, that +battle in the restless heart of man.</p> + +<p id="id00551"> +It was her nobler and purer part that gave life to the early missions of +New France. That gloomy wilderness, those hordes of savages, had nothing +to tempt the ambitious, the proud, the grasping, or the indolent. +Obscure toil, solitude, privation, hardship, and death were to be the +missionary's portion. He who set sail for the country of the Hurons left +behind him the world and all its prizes. True, he acted under +orders,—obedient, like a soldier, to the word of command: but the +astute Society of Jesus knew its members, weighed each in the balance, +gave each his fitting task; and when the word was passed to embark for +New France, it was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> + but the response to a secret longing of the fervent heart. +The letters of these priests, departing for the scene of their labors, +breathe a spirit of enthusiastic exaltation, which, to a colder nature +and a colder faith, may sometimes seem overstrained, but which is in no +way disproportionate to the vastness of the effort and the sacrifice +demanded of them. +<a href="#footer_8-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00552" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-1" name="footer_8-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + The following are passages from letters of missionaries at this time. + See "Divers Sentimens," appended to the <i>Relation</i> of 1635.</p> + <p id="id00553"> + "On dit que les premiers qui fondent les Eglises d'ordinaire sont + saincts: cette pensée m'attendrit si fort le cœur, que quoy + que ie me voye icy fort inutile dans ceste fortunée Nouuelle + France, si faut-il que i'auoüe que ie ne me sçaurois + defendre d'vne pensée qui me presse le cœur: + <i>Cupio impendi, et superimpendi pro vobis</i>, Pauure Nouuelle + France, ie desire me sacrifier pour ton bien, et quand il me + deuroit couster mille vies, moyennant que ie puisse aider + à sauuer vne seule âme, ie seray trop heureux, + et ma vie tres bien employée."</p> + <p id="id00554"> + "Ma consolation parmy les Hurons, c'est que tous les iours ie me + confesse, et puis ie dis la Messe, comme si ie deuois prendre le + Viatique et mourir ce iour là, et ie ne crois pas qu'on + puisse mieux viure, ny auec plus de satisfaction et de courage, et + mesme de merites, que viure en un lieu, où on pense pouuoir + mourir tous les iours, et auoir la deuise de S. Paul, <i>Quotidie + morior, fratres</i>, etc. mes freres, je fais estat de mourir tous + les iours."</p> + <p id="id00555"> + "Qui ne void la Nouuelle France que par les yeux de chair et de nature, + il n'y void que des bois et des croix; mais qui les considere auec les + yeux de la grace et d'vne bonne vocation, il n'y void que Dieu, les + vertus et les graces, et on y trouue tant et de si solides consolations, + que si ie pouuois acheter la Nouuelle France, en donnant tout le Paradis + Terrestre, certainement ie l'acheterois. Mon Dieu, qu'il fait bon estre + au lieu où Dieu nous a mis de sa grace! veritablement i'ay + trouué icy ce que i'auois esperé, vn cœur selon le + cœur de Dieu, qui ne cherche que Dieu."<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00556"> +All turned with longing eyes towards the mission of the Hurons; for here +the largest harvest promised to repay their labor, and here hardships and +dangers most abounded. Two Jesuits, Pijart and Le Mercier, had been sent +thither in 1635; and in midsummer of the next year three more +arrived,—Jogues, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> +Chatelain, and Garnier. When, after their long and +lonely journey, they reached Ihonatiria one by one, they were received by their +brethren with scanty fare indeed, but with a fervor of affectionate +welcome which more than made amends; for among these priests, united in a +community of faith and enthusiasm, there was far more than the genial +comradeship of men joined in a common enterprise of self-devotion and +peril. +<a href="#footer_8-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +On their way, they had met Daniel and Davost descending to +Quebec, to establish there a seminary of Huron children,—a project long +cherished by Brébeuf and his companions.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-2" name="footer_8-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + "Ie luy preparay de ce que nous auions, pour le receuoir, mais quel + festin! vne poignée de petit poisson sec auec vn peu de farine; + i'enuoyay chercher quelques nouueaux espics, que nous luy fismes rostir + à la façon du pays; mais il est vray que dans son + cœur et à l'entendre, il ne fit iamais meilleure chere. + La ioye qui se ressent à ces entreueuës semble estre + quelque image du contentement des bien-heureux à leur + arriuée dans le Ciel, tant elle est pleine de + suauité."—Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1637</i>, + 106.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00558"> +Scarcely had the new-comers arrived, when they were attacked by a +contagious fever, which turned their mission-house into a hospital. +Jogues, Garnier, and Chatelain fell ill in turn; and two of their +domestics also were soon prostrated, though the only one of the number +who could hunt fortunately escaped. Those who remained in health +attended the sick, and the sufferers vied with each other in efforts +often beyond their strength to relieve their companions in misfortune. +<a href="#footer_8-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +The disease in no case proved fatal; but scarcely had health +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> + begun to +return to their household, when an unforeseen calamity demanded the +exertion of all their energies.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-3" name="footer_8-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + <i>Lettre de Brébeuf au T. R. P. Mutio Vitelleschi, 20 Mai, + 1637</i>, in Carayon, 157. Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, + 1637</i>, 120, 123.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00559"> +The pestilence, which for two years past had from time to time visited +the Huron towns, now returned with tenfold violence, and with it soon +appeared a new and fearful scourge,—the small-pox. Terror was universal. +The contagion increased as autumn advanced; and when winter came, far +from ceasing, as the priests had hoped, its ravages were appalling. +The season of Huron festivity was turned to a season of mourning; and +such was the despondency and dismay, that suicide became frequent. +The Jesuits, singly or in pairs, journeyed in the depth of winter from +village to village, ministering to the sick, and seeking to commend their +religious teachings by their efforts to relieve bodily distress. Happily, +perhaps, for their patients, they had no medicine but a little senna. +A few raisins were left, however; and one or two of these, with a +spoonful of sweetened water, were always eagerly accepted by the +sufferers, who thought them endowed with some mysterious and sovereign +efficacy. No house was left unvisited. As the missionary, physician at +once to body and soul, entered one of these smoky dens, he saw the +inmates, their heads muffled in their robes of skins, seated around the +fires in silent dejection. Everywhere was heard the wail of sick and +dying children; and on or under the platforms at the sides of the house +crouched squalid men and women, in all the stages of the distemper. +The Father approached, made +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> + inquiries, spoke words of kindness, +administered his harmless remedies, or offered a bowl of broth made from +game brought in by the Frenchman who hunted for the mission. +<a href="#footer_8-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> + The body cared for, he next +addressed himself to the soul. "This life is short, and very miserable. +It matters little whether we live or die." The patient remained silent, +or grumbled his dissent. The Jesuit, after enlarging for a time, in +broken Huron, on the brevity and nothingness of mortal weal or woe, +passed next to the joys of Heaven and the pains of Hell, which he set +forth with his best rhetoric. His pictures of infernal fires and +torturing devils were readily comprehended, if the listener had +consciousness enough to comprehend anything; but with respect to the +advantages of the French Paradise, he was slow of conviction. "I wish to +go where my relations and ancestors have gone," was a common reply. +"Heaven is a good place for Frenchmen," said another; "but I wish to be +among Indians, for the French will give me nothing to eat when I get +there." +<a href="#footer_8-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +Often the patient was stolidly silent; sometimes he +was hopelessly perverse and contradictory. Again, Nature triumphed over +Grace. "Which will you choose," demanded +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> +the priest of a dying woman, +"Heaven or Hell?" "Hell, if my children are there, as you say," returned +the mother. "Do they hunt in Heaven, or make war, or go to feasts?" +asked an anxious inquirer. "Oh, no!" replied the Father. "Then," +returned the querist, "I will not go. It is not good to be lazy." +But above all other obstacles was the dread of starvation in the regions +of the blest. Nor, when the dying Indian had been induced at last to +express a desire for Paradise, was it an easy matter to bring him to a +due contrition for his sins; for he would deny with indignation that he +had ever committed any. When at length, as sometimes happened, all these +difficulties gave way, and the patient had been brought to what seemed to +his instructor a fitting frame for baptism, the priest, with contentment +at his heart, brought water in a cup or in the hollow of his hand, +touched his forehead with the mystic drop, and snatched him from an +eternity of woe. But the convert, even after his baptism, did not always +manifest a satisfactory spiritual condition. "Why did you baptize that +Iroquois?" asked one of the dying neophytes, speaking of the prisoner +recently tortured; "he will get to Heaven before us, and, when he sees us +coming, he will drive us out." +<a href="#footer_8-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-4" name="footer_8-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Game was so scarce in the Huron country, that it was greatly + prized as a luxury. Le Mercier speaks of an Indian, sixty + years of age, who walked twelve miles to taste the wild-fowl + killed by the French hunter. The ordinary food was corn, beans, + pumpkins, and fish.<br /> + <a id="footer_8-5" name="footer_8-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + It was scarcely possible to convince the Indians, that there + was but one God for themselves and the whites. The proposition was met + by such arguments as this: "If we had been of one father, we should know + how to make knives and coats as well as you."—Le Mercier, + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1637</i>, 147.<br /> + <a id="footer_8-6" name="footer_8-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + Most of the above traits are drawn from Le Mercier's + report of 1637. The rest are from Brébeuf. + <br /> + </p> +</div> + + + +<p id="id00560"> +Thus did these worthy priests, too conscientious to let these +unfortunates die in peace, follow them with benevolent persecutions to +the hour of their death.</p> + +<p id="id00561"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> +It was clear to the Fathers, that their ministrations were valued solely +because their religion was supposed by many to be a "medicine," or charm, +efficacious against famine, disease, and death. They themselves, indeed, +firmly believed that saints and angels were always at hand with temporal +succors for the faithful. At their intercession, St. Joseph had +interposed to procure a happy delivery to a squaw in protracted pains of +childbirth; +<a href="#footer_8-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +and they never doubted, that, in the hour of need, the celestial powers would +confound the unbeliever with intervention direct and manifest. At the +town of Wenrio, the people, after trying in vain all the feasts, dances, +and preposterous ceremonies by which their medicine-men sought to stop +the pest, resolved to essay the "medicine" of the French, and, to that +end, called the priests to a council. "What must we do, that your God +may take pity on us?" Brébeuf's answer was uncompromising:—</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-7" name="footer_8-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 89. Another woman was + delivered on touching a relic of St. Ignatius. <i>Ibid.</i>, 90.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00562"> +"Believe in Him; keep His commandments; abjure your faith in dreams; take +but one wife, and be true to her; give up your superstitious feasts; +renounce your assemblies of debauchery; eat no human flesh; never give +feasts to demons; and make a vow, that, if God will deliver you from this +pest, you will build a chapel to offer Him thanksgiving and praise." +<a href="#footer_8-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-8" name="footer_8-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1637</i>, 114, 116 (Cramoisy). <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00563"> +The terms were too hard. They would fain bargain +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> + to be let off with +building the chapel alone; but Brébeuf would bate them nothing, and the +council broke up in despair.</p> + +<p id="id00564"> +At Ossossané, a few miles distant, the people, in a frenzy of terror, +accepted the conditions, and promised to renounce their superstitions and +reform their manners. It was a labor of Hercules, a cleansing of Augean +stables; but the scared savages were ready to make any promise that might +stay the pestilence. One of their principal sorcerers proclaimed in a +loud voice through the streets of the town, that the God of the French +was their master, and that thenceforth all must live according to His +will. "What consolation," exclaims Le Mercier, "to see God glorified by +the lips of an imp of Satan!" +<a href="#footer_8-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-9" name="footer_8-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1637</i>, + 127, 128 (Cramoisy). <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00565"> +Their joy was short. The proclamation was on the twelfth of December. +On the twenty-first, a noted sorcerer came to Ossossané. He was of a +dwarfish, hump-backed figure,—most rare among this symmetrical +people,—with a vicious face, and a dress consisting of a torn and shabby +robe of beaver-skin. Scarcely had he arrived, when, with ten or twelve +other savages, he ensconced himself in a kennel of bark made for the +occasion. In the midst were placed several stones, heated red-hot. +On these the sorcerer threw tobacco, producing a stifling fumigation; in +the midst of which, for a full half-hour, he sang, at the top of his +throat, those boastful, yet meaningless, rhapsodies of which Indian +magical songs are composed. Then came +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> +a grand "medicine-feast"; and the +disappointed Jesuits saw plainly that the objects of their spiritual care, +unwilling to throw away any chance of cure, were bent on invoking aid +from God and the Devil at once.</p> + +<p id="id00566"> +The hump-backed sorcerer became a thorn in the side of the Fathers, +who more than half believed his own account of his origin. He was, he +said, not a man, but an <i>oki</i>,—a spirit, or, as the priests rendered it, +a demon,—and had dwelt with other <i>okies</i> under the earth, when the whim +seized him to become a man. Therefore he ascended to the upper world, +in company with a female spirit. They hid beside a path, and, when they +saw a woman passing, they entered her womb. After a time they were born, +but not until the male <i>oki</i> had quarrelled with and strangled his female +companion, who came dead into the world. +<a href="#footer_8-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +The character of the sorcerer seems to have comported +reasonably well with this story of his origin. He pretended to have an +absolute control over the pestilence, and his prescriptions were +scrupulously followed.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-10" name="footer_8-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1637</i>, 72 (Cramoisy). + This "petit sorcier" is often mentioned elsewhere. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00567"> +He had several conspicuous rivals, besides a host of humbler competitors. +One of these magician-doctors, who was nearly blind, made for himself a +kennel at the end of his house, where he fasted for seven days. +<a href="#footer_8-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +On the sixth day the spirits appeared, and, among other +revelations, told +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> +him that the disease could be frightened away by means +of images of straw, like scarecrows, placed on the tops of the houses. +Within forty-eight hours after this announcement, the roofs of +Onnentisati and the neighboring villages were covered with an army of +these effigies. The Indians tried to persuade the Jesuits to put them on +the mission-house; but the priests replied, that the cross before their +door was a better protector; and, for further security, they set another +on their roof, declaring that they would rely on it to save them from +infection. +<a href="#footer_8-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +The Indians, on their part, anxious that their scarecrows should do their +office well, addressed them in loud harangues and burned offerings of +tobacco to them. +<a href="#footer_8-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-11" name="footer_8-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + See Introduction.<br /> + <a id="footer_8-12" name="footer_8-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + "Qu'en vertu de ce signe nous ne redoutions point les + demons, et esperions que Dieu preserueroit nostre petite maison de cette + maladie contagieuse."—Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, + 1637</i>, 150.<br /> + <a id="footer_8-13" name="footer_8-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + <i>Ibid.</i>, 157.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00568"> +There was another sorcerer, whose medical practice was so extensive, that, +unable to attend to all his patients, he sent substitutes to the +surrounding towns, first imparting to them his own mysterious power. +One of these deputies came to Ossossané while the priests were there. +The principal house was thronged with expectant savages, anxiously +waiting his arrival. A chief carried before him a kettle of mystic water, +with which the envoy sprinkled the company, +<a href="#footer_8-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +at the same time +fanning them +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> +with the wing of a wild turkey. Then came a grand +medicine-feast, followed by a medicine-dance of women.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00569" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-14" name="footer_8-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + The idea seems to have been taken from the holy water of the French. + Le Mercier says that a Huron who had been to Quebec once asked him the + use of the vase of water at the door of the chapel. The priest told him + that it was "to frighten away the devils". On this, he begged earnestly + to have some of it.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00570"> +Opinion was divided as to the nature of the pest; but the greater number +were agreed that it was a malignant <i>oki</i>, who came from Lake Huron. +<a href="#footer_8-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +As it was of the last moment to conciliate or frighten him, no means to +these ends were neglected. Feasts were held for him, at which, to do him +honor, each guest gorged himself like a vulture. A mystic fraternity +danced with firebrands in their mouths; while other dancers wore masks, +and pretended to be hump-backed. Tobacco was burned to the Demon of the +Pest, no less than to the scarecrows which were to frighten him. A chief +climbed to the roof of a house, and shouted to the invisible monster, +"If you want flesh, go to our enemies, go to the Iroquois!"—while, +to add terror to persuasion, the crowd in the dwelling below yelled with +all the force of their lungs, and beat furiously with sticks on the walls +of bark.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00571" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-15" name="footer_8-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + Many believed that the country was bewitched by wicked sorcerers, + one of whom, it was said, had been seen at night roaming around the + villages, vomiting fire. (Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, + 1637</i>, 134.) This superstition of sorcerers vomiting fire was + common among the Iroquois of New York.—Others held that a + sister of Étienne Brulé caused the evil, in revenge + for the death of her brother, murdered some years before. She was + said to have been seen flying over the country, breathing forth + pestilence. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00572"> +Besides these public efforts to stay the pestilence, the sufferers, +each for himself, had their own methods of cure, dictated by dreams or +prescribed by established usage. Thus two of the priests, entering +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> +a house, saw a sick man crouched in a corner, while near him sat three +friends. Before each of these was placed a huge portion of food,—enough, +the witness declares, for four,—and though all were gorged to +suffocation, with starting eyeballs and distended veins, they still held +staunchly to their task, resolved at all costs to devour the whole, +in order to cure the patient, who meanwhile ceased not, in feeble tones, +to praise their exertions, and implore them to persevere. +<a href="#footer_8-16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00573" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-16" name="footer_8-16"></a> + <span class="superscript">[16]</span> + "En fin il leur fallut rendre gorge, ce qu'ils firent à diuerses + reprises, ne laissants pas pour cela de continuer à vuider leur + plat."—Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1637</i>, + 142.—This beastly superstition exists in some tribes at the + present day. A kindred superstition once fell under the writer's + notice, in the case of a wounded Indian, who begged of every one he + met to drink a large bowl of water, in order that he, the Indian, + might be cured.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00574"> +Turning from these eccentricities of the "noble savage" +<a href="#footer_8-17"><span class="superscript">[17]</span></a> +to the zealots who were toiling, according to their light, to snatch him from +the clutch of Satan, we see the irrepressible Jesuits roaming from town +to town in restless quest of subjects for baptism. In the case of adults, +they thought some little preparation essential; but their efforts to this +end, even with the aid of St. Joseph, whom they constantly invoked, +<a href="#footer_8-18"><span class="superscript">[18]</span></a> +were not always successful; and, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> +cheaply as they offered salvation, +they sometimes railed to find a purchaser. With infants, however, +a simple drop of water sufficed for the transfer from a prospective Hell +to an assured Paradise. The Indians, who at first had sought baptism as +a cure, now began to regard it as a cause of death; and when the priest +entered a lodge where a sick child lay in extremity, the scowling parents +watched him with jealous distrust, lest unawares the deadly drop should +be applied. The Jesuits were equal to the emergency. Father Le Mercier +will best tell his own story.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00575" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-17" name="footer_8-17"></a> + <span class="superscript">[17]</span> + In the midst of these absurdities we find recorded one of the best + traits of the Indian character. At Ihonatiria, a house occupied by a + family of orphan children was burned to the ground, leaving the inmates + destitute. The villagers united to aid them. Each contributed something, + and they were soon better provided for than before. <br /> + <a id="footer_8-18" name="footer_8-18"></a> + <span class="superscript">[18]</span> + "C'est nostre refuge ordinaire en semblables necessitez, et + d'ordinaire auec tels succez, que nous auons sujet d'en benir Dieu + à iamais, qui nous fait cognoistre en cette barbarie le credit + de ce S. Patriarche aupres de son infinie misericorde."—Le + Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1637</i>, 153.—In the case + of a woman at Onnentisati, "Dieu nous inspira de luy vouër + quelques Messes en l'honneur de S. Joseph." The effect was prompt. + In half an hour the woman was ready for baptism. On the same page + we have another subject secured to Heaven, "sans doute par les + merites du glorieux Patriarche S. Joseph."<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00577"> +"On the third of May, Father Pierre Pijart baptized at Anonatea a little +child two months old, in manifest danger of death, without being seen by +the parents, who would not give their consent. This is the device which +he used. Our sugar does wonders for us. He pretended to make the child +drink a little sugared water, and at the same time dipped a finger in it. +As the father of the infant began to suspect something, and called out to +him not to baptize it, he gave the spoon to a woman who was near, and +said to her, 'Give it to him yourself.' She approached and found the +child asleep; and at the same time Father Pijart, under pretence of +seeing if he was really asleep, touched his face with his wet finger, +and baptized him. At the end of forty-eight hours he went to Heaven.</p> + +<p id="id00578"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> +"Some days before, the missionary had used the same device (<i>industrie</i>) +for baptizing a little boy six or seven years old. His father, who was +very sick, had several times refused to receive baptism; and when asked +if he would not be glad to have his son baptized, he had answered, <i>No</i>. +'At least,' said Father Pijart, 'you will not object to my giving him a +little sugar.' 'No; but you must not baptize him.' The missionary gave +it to him once; then again; and at the third spoonful, before he had put +the sugar into the water, he let a drop of it fall on the child, at the +same time pronouncing the sacramental words. A little girl, who was +looking at him, cried out, 'Father, he is baptizing him!' The child's +father was much disturbed; but the missionary said to him, 'Did you not +see that I was giving him sugar?' The child died soon after; but God +showed His grace to the father, who is now in perfect health." +<a href="#footer_8-19"><span class="superscript">[19]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00579" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_8-19" name="footer_8-19"></a> + <span class="superscript">[19]</span> + Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1637</i>, 165. Various + other cases of the kind are mentioned in the <i>Relations</i>.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00580"> +That equivocal morality, lashed by the withering satire of Pascal,—a +morality built on the doctrine that all means are permissible for saving +souls from perdition, and that sin itself is no sin when its object is +the "greater glory of God,"—found far less scope in the rude wilderness +of the Hurons than among the interests, ambitions, and passions of +civilized life. Nor were these men, chosen from the purest of their +Order, personally well fitted to illustrate the capabilities of this +elastic system. Yet now and then, by the light of their own writings, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> +we may observe that the teachings of the school of Loyola had not been +wholly without effect in the formation of their ethics.</p> + +<p id="id00581"> +But when we see them, in the gloomy February of 1637, and the gloomier +months that followed, toiling on foot from one infected town to another, +wading through the sodden snow, under the bare and dripping forests, +drenched with incessant rains, till they descried at length through the +storm the clustered dwellings of some barbarous hamlet,—when we see them +entering, one after another, these wretched abodes of misery and darkness, +and all for one sole end, the baptism of the sick and dying, we may smile +at the futility of the object, but we must needs admire the +self-sacrificing zeal with which it was pursued.</p> + + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_9" id="Chapter_9"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00582"><a href="#Contents9">CHAPTER IX.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1637.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00583" class="smcapheader">CHARACTER OF THE CANADIAN JESUITS.</p> + <p id="id00584" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Jean de Brébeuf • Charles Garnier • + Joseph Marie Chaumonot • Noël Chabanel • + Isaac Jogues • Other Jesuits • + Nature of their Faith • Supernaturalism • + Visions • Miracles + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00586"> +<span class="smcap">Before</span> pursuing farther these obscure, but +noteworthy, scenes in the drama of human history, it will be well to +indicate, so far as there are means of doing so, the distinctive traits +of some of the chief actors. Mention has often been made of +Brébeuf,—that masculine apostle of the Faith,—the +Ajax of the mission. Nature had given him all the passions of a +vigorous manhood, and religion had crushed them, curbed them, or +tamed them to do her work,—like a dammed-up torrent, sluiced and +guided to grind and saw and weave for the good of man. Beside him, +in strange contrast, stands his co-laborer, Charles Garnier. Both were +of noble birth and gentle nurture; but here the parallel ends. Garnier's +face was beardless, though he was above thirty years old. For this he +was laughed at by his friends in Paris, but admired by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> +the Indians, +who thought him handsome. +<a href="#footer_9-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +His constitution, bodily or mental, was by no means robust. From boyhood, +he had shown a delicate and sensitive nature, a tender conscience, +and a proneness to religious emotion. He had never gone with his +schoolmates to inns and other places of amusement, but kept his +pocket-money to give to beggars. One of his brothers relates of him, +that, seeing an obscene book, he bought and destroyed it, lest other boys +should be injured by it. He had always wished to be a Jesuit, and, +after a novitiate which is described as most edifying, he became a +professed member of the Order. The Church, indeed, absorbed the greater +part, if not the whole, of this pious family,—one brother being a +Carmelite, another a Capuchin, and a third a Jesuit, while there seems +also to have been a fourth under vows. Of Charles Garnier there remain +twenty-four letters, written at various times to his father and two of +his brothers, chiefly during his missionary life among the Hurons. +They breathe the deepest and most intense Roman Catholic piety, and a +spirit enthusiastic, yet sad, as of one renouncing all the hopes and +prizes of the world, and living for Heaven alone. The affections of his +sensitive nature, severed from earthly objects, found relief in an ardent +adoration of the Virgin Mary. With none of the bone and sinew of rugged +manhood, he entered, not only without hesitation, but with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> +eagerness, +on a life which would have tried the boldest; and, sustained by the +spirit within him, he was more than equal to it. His fellow-missionaries +thought him a saint; and had he lived a century or two earlier, he would +perhaps have been canonized: yet, while all his life was a willing +martyrdom, one can discern, amid his admirable virtues, some slight +lingerings of mortal vanity. Thus, in three several letters, he speaks +of his great success in baptizing, and plainly intimates that he had sent +more souls to Heaven than the other Jesuits. +<a href="#footer_9-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00587" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_9-1" name="footer_9-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + "C'est pourquoi j'ai bien gagne à quitter la + France, où vous me fesiez la guerre de n'avoir point de barbe; + car c'est ce qui me fait estimer beau des Sauvages."—<i>Lettres + de Garnier</i>, MSS.<br /> + <a id="footer_9-2" name="footer_9-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + The above sketch of Garnier is drawn from various sources. + <i>Observations du P. Henri de St. Joseph, Carme, sur son + Frère le P. Charles Garnier</i>, + MS.—<i>Abrégé de la Vie du R. + Père Charles Garnier</i>, MS. + This unpublished sketch bears the signature of the Jesuit Ragueneau, + with the date 1652. For the opportunity of consulting it I am indebted + to Rev. Felix Martin, S. J.—<i>Lettres du P. Charles Garnier</i>, + MSS. These embrace his correspondence from the Huron country, and are + exceedingly characteristic and striking. There is another letter in + Carayon, <i>Première Mission</i>.—Garnier's family was + wealthy, as well as noble. Its members seem to have been strongly + attached to each other, and the young priest's father was greatly + distressed at his departure for Canada.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00588"> +Next appears a young man of about twenty-seven years, Joseph Marie +Chaumonot. Unlike Brébeuf and Garnier, he was of humble +origin,—his father being a vine-dresser, and his mother the +daughter of a poor village schoolmaster. At an early age they sent +him to Châtillon on the Seine, where he lived with his uncle, +a priest, who taught him to speak Latin, and awakened his religious +susceptibilities, which were naturally strong. This did not prevent +him from yielding to the persuasions of one of his companions to run +off to Beaune, a town of Burgundy, where the fugitives proposed to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> +study music under the Fathers of the Oratory. To provide funds for +the journey, he stole a sum of about the value of a dollar from his +uncle, the priest. This act, which seems to have been a mere +peccadillo of boyish levity, determined his future career. Finding +himself in total destitution at Beaune, he wrote to his mother for money, +and received in reply an order from his father to come home. Stung with +the thought of being posted as a thief in his native village, he resolved +not to do so, but to set out forthwith on a pilgrimage to Rome; and +accordingly, tattered and penniless, he took the road for the sacred +city. Soon a conflict began within him between his misery and the pride +which forbade him to beg. The pride was forced to succumb. He begged +from door to door; slept under sheds by the wayside, or in haystacks; and +now and then found lodging and a meal at a convent. Thus, sometimes +alone, sometimes with vagabonds whom he met on the road, he made his way +through Savoy and Lombardy in a pitiable condition of destitution, filth, +and disease. At length he reached Ancona, when the thought occured to +him of visiting the Holy House of Loretto, and imploring the succor of +the Virgin Mary. Nor were his hopes disappointed. He had reached that +renowned shrine, knelt, paid his devotions, and offered his prayer, when, +as he issued from the door of the chapel, he was accosted by a young man, +whom he conjectures to have been an angel descended to his relief, +and who was probably some penitent or devotee bent on works of charity or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> +self-mortification. With a voice of the greatest kindness, he proffered +his aid to the wretched boy, whose appearance was alike fitted to awaken +pity and disgust. The conquering of a natural repugnance to filth, +in the interest of charity and humility, is a conspicuous virtue in most +of the Roman Catholic saints; and whatever merit may attach to it was +acquired in an extraordinary degree by the young man in question. +Apparently, he was a physician; for he not only restored the miserable +wanderer to a condition of comparative decency, but cured him of a +grievous malady, the result of neglect. Chaumonot went on his way, +thankful to his benefactor, and overflowing with an enthusiasm of +gratitude to Our Lady of Loretto. +<a href="#footer_9-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00589" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_9-3" name="footer_9-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + "Si la moindre dame m'avoit fait rendre ce service par le + dernier de ses valets, n'aurois-je pas dus lui en rendre + toutes les reconnoissances possibles? Et si après + une telle charité elle s'étoit offerte à + me servir toujours de mesme, comment aurois-je dû + l'honorer, lui obéir, l'aimer toute ma vie! Pardon, + Reine des Anges et des hommes! pardon de ce qu'après + avoir reçu de vous tant de marques, par lesquelles vous + m'avez convaincu que vous m'avez adopté pour votre fils, + j'ai eu l'ingratitude pendant des années entières + de me comporter encore plutôt en esclave de Satan qu'en + enfant d'une Mère Vierge. O que vous êtes + bonne et charitable! puisque quelques obstacles que mes + péchés ayent pu mettre à vos graces, + vous n'avez jamais cessé de m'attirer au bien; + jusque là que vous m'avez fait admettre dans la Sainte + Compagnie de Jésus, votre fils."—Chaumonot, + <i>Vie</i>, 20. The above is from the very curious + autobiography written by Chaumonot, at the command of his Superior, + in 1688. The original manuscript is at the Hôtel Dieu of Quebec. + Mr. Shea has printed it.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00590"> +As he journeyed towards Rome, an old burgher, at whose door he had begged, +employed him as a servant. He soon became known to a Jesuit, to whom he +had confessed himself in Latin; and as his acquirements were considerable +for his years, he was eventually employed as teacher of a low +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> +class in +one of the Jesuit schools. Nature had inclined him to a life of +devotion. He would fain be a hermit, and, to that end, practised eating +green ears of wheat; but, finding he could not swallow them, conceived +that he had mistaken his vocation. Then a strong desire grew up within +him to become a Récollet, a Capuchin, or, above all, a Jesuit; and at +length the wish of his heart was answered. At the age of twenty-one, +he was admitted to the Jesuit novitiate. +<a href="#footer_9-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +Soon after its close, a small duodecimo volume was placed in his hands. +It was a <i>Relation</i> of the Canadian mission, and contained one of +those narratives of Brébeuf which have been often cited in the +preceding pages. Its effect was immediate. Burning to share those +glorious toils, the young priest asked to be sent to Canada; and his +request was granted.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00591" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_9-4" name="footer_9-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + His age, when he left his uncle, the priest, is not mentioned. + But he must have been a mere child; for, at the end of his novitiate, + he had forgotten his native language, and was forced to learn it a + second time.</p> + <p id="id00592"> + "Jamais y eut-il homme sur terre plus obligé que moi + à la Sainte Famille de Jésus, de Marie et de + Joseph! Marie en me guérissant de ma vilaine galle + ou teigne, me délivra d'une infinité de peines + et d'incommodités corporelles, que cette hideuse + maladie qui me rongeoit m'avoit causé. Joseph m'ayant + obtenu la grace d'être incorporé à un + corps aussi saint qu'est celui des Jésuites, m'a + preservé d'une infinité de misères + spirituelles, de tentations très dangereuses et de + péchés très énormes. Jésus + n'ayant pas permis que j'entrasse dans aucun autre ordre qu'en + celui qu'il honore tout à la fois de son beau nom, de + sa douce présence et de sa protection spéciale. + O Jésus! O Marie! O Joseph! qui méritoit moins + que moi vos divines faveurs, et envers qui avez vous + été plus prodigue?"—Chaumonot, <i>Vie</i>, + 37. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00593"> +Before embarking, he set out with the Jesuit Poncet, who was also +destined for Canada, on a pilgrimage from Rome to the shrine of Our Lady +of Loretto. They journeyed on foot, begging alms +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> +by the way. Chaumonot +was soon seized with a pain in the knee, so violent that it seemed +impossible to proceed. At San Severino, where they lodged with the +Barnabites, he bethought him of asking the intercession of a certain poor +woman of that place, who had died some time before with the reputation of +sanctity. Accordingly he addressed to her his prayer, promising to +publish her fame on every possible occasion, if she would obtain his cure +from God. +<a href="#footer_9-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +The intercession was accepted; the offending limb became sound +<ins title="change gain to again.">again,</ins> +and the +two pilgrims pursued their journey. They reached Loretto, and, kneeling +before the Queen of Heaven, implored her favor and aid; while Chaumonot, +overflowing with devotion to this celestial mistress of his heart, +conceived the purpose of building in Canada a chapel to her honor, +after the exact model of the Holy House of Loretto. They soon afterwards +embarked together, and arrived among the Hurons early in the autumn of +1639.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_9-5" name="footer_9-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + "Je me recommandai à elle en lui promettant de la faire + connoître dans toutes les occasions que j'en aurois jamais, + si elle m'obtenoit de Dieu ma guérison."—Chaumonot, + <i>Vie</i>, 46.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00594"> +Noël Chabanel came later to the mission; for he did not reach the Huron +country until 1643. He detested the Indian life,—the smoke, the vermin, +the filthy food, the impossibility of privacy. He could not study by the +smoky lodge-fire, among the noisy crowd of men and squaws, with their +dogs, and their restless, screeching children. He had a natural +inaptitude to learning the language, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> +labored at it for five years +with scarcely a sign of progress. The Devil whispered a suggestion into +his ear: Let him procure his release from these barren and revolting +toils, and return to France, where congenial and useful employments +awaited him. Chabanel refused to listen; and when the temptation still +beset him, he bound himself by a solemn vow to remain in Canada to the +day of his death. +<a href="#footer_9-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_9-6" name="footer_9-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + <i>Abrégé de la Vie du Père Noël + Chabanel</i>, MS. This anonymous paper bears the signature + of Ragueneau, in attestation of its truth. See also Ragueneau, + <i>Relation, 1650</i>, 17, 18. Chabanel's vow is here given + <i>verbatim</i>.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00595"> +Isaac Jogues was of a character not unlike Garnier. Nature had given him +no especial force of intellect or constitutional energy, yet the man was +indomitable and irrepressible, as his history will show. We have but few +means of characterizing the remaining priests of the mission otherwise +than as their traits appear on the field of their labors. Theirs was no +faith of abstractions and generalities. For them, heaven was very near +to earth, touching and mingling with it at many points. On high, God the +Father sat enthroned; and, nearer to human sympathies, Divinity incarnate +in the Son, with the benign form of his immaculate mother, and her spouse, +St. Joseph, the chosen patron of New France. Interceding saints and +departed friends bore to the throne of grace the petitions of those yet +lingering in mortal bondage, and formed an ascending chain from earth to +heaven.</p> + +<p id="id00596"> +These priests lived in an atmosphere of supernaturalism. Every day had +its miracle. Divine +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> +power declared itself in action immediate and direct, +controlling, guiding, or reversing the laws of Nature. The missionaries +did not reject the ordinary cures for disease or wounds; but they relied +far more on a prayer to the Virgin, a vow to St. Joseph, or the promise of +a <i>neuvaine</i>, or nine days' devotion, to some other celestial personage; +while the touch of a fragment of a tooth or bone of some departed saint +was of sovereign efficacy to cure sickness, solace pain, or relieve a +suffering squaw in the throes of childbirth. Once, Chaumonot, having a +headache, remembered to have heard of a sick man who regained his health +by commending his case to St. Ignatius, and at the same time putting a +medal stamped with his image into his mouth. Accordingly he tried a +similar experiment, putting into his mouth a medal bearing a +representation of the Holy Family, which was the object of his especial +devotion. The next morning found him cured. +<a href="#footer_9-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_9-7" name="footer_9-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + Chaumonot, <i>Vie</i>, 73. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + + +<p id="id00597"> +The relation between this world and the next was sometimes of a nature +curiously intimate. Thus, when Chaumonot heard of Garnier's death, +he immediately addressed his departed colleague, and promised him the +benefit of all the good works which he, Chaumonot, might perform during +the next week, provided the defunct missionary would make him heir to his +knowledge of the Huron tongue. +<a href="#footer_9-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +And he ascribed to the deceased Garnier's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> +influence the mastery of +that language which he afterwards acquired.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00598" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_9-8" name="footer_9-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + "Je n'eus pas plutôt appris sa glorieuse mort, que je lui promis + tout ce que je ferois de bien pendant huit jours, à condition + qu'il me feroit son héritier dans la connoissance parfaite + qu'il avoit du Huron."—Chaumonot, <i>Vie</i>, 61. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00599"> +The efforts of the missionaries for the conversion of the savages were +powerfully seconded from the other world, and the refractory subject who +was deaf to human persuasions softened before the superhuman agencies +which the priest invoked to his aid. +<a href="#footer_9-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00600" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_9-9" name="footer_9-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + As these may be supposed to be exploded ideas of the past, the writer + may recall an incident of his youth, while spending a few days in the + convent of the Passionists, near the Coliseum at Rome. These worthy + monks, after using a variety of arguments for his conversion, expressed + the hope that a miraculous interposition would be vouchsafed to that + end, and that the Virgin would manifest herself to him in a nocturnal + vision. To this end they gave him a small brass medal, stamped with + her image, to be worn at his neck, while they were to repeat a certain + number of <i>Aves</i> and <i>Paters</i>, in which he was urgently + invited to join; as the result of which, it was hoped the Virgin would + appear on the same night. No vision, however, occurred.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00601"> +<a id="id00601a" name="id00601a"></a> +It is scarcely necessary to add, that signs and voices from another world, +visitations from Hell and visions from Heaven, were incidents of no rare +occurrence in the lives of these ardent apostles. To Brébeuf, whose deep +nature, like a furnace white hot, glowed with the still intensity of his +enthusiasm, they were especially frequent. Demons in troops appeared +before him, sometimes in the guise of men, sometimes as bears, wolves, +or wild-cats. He called on God, and the apparitions vanished. Death, +like a skeleton, sometimes menaced him, and once, as he faced it with an +unquailing eye, it fell powerless at his feet. A demon, in the form of a +woman, assailed him with the temptation which beset St. Benedict among +the rocks of Subiaco; but Brébeuf signed the cross, and the infernal +siren melted into air. He saw the vision +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> +of a vast and gorgeous palace; +and a miraculous voice assured him that such was to be the reward of +those who dwelt in savage hovels for the cause of God. Angels appeared +to him; and, more than once, St. Joseph and the Virgin were visibly +present before his sight. Once, when he was among the Neutral Nation, +in the winter of 1640, he beheld the ominous apparition of a great cross +slowly approaching from the quarter where lay the country of the +Iroquois. He told the vision to his comrades. "What was it like? +How large was it?" they eagerly demanded. "Large enough," replied the +priest, "to crucify us all." +<a href="#footer_9-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +To explain such phenomena is the +province of psychology, and not of history. Their occurrence is no +matter of surprise, and it would be superfluous to doubt that they were +recounted in good faith, and with a full belief in their reality.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00602" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_9-10" name="footer_9-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + <i>Quelques Remarques sur la Vie du Père Jean de + Brébeuf</i>, MS. On the margin of this paper, + opposite several of the statements repeated above, are + the words, signed by Ragueneau, "<i>Ex ipsius + autographo</i>," indicating that the statements were + made in writing by Brébeuf himself.</p> + <p id="id00603"> + Still other visions are recorded by Chaumonot as occurring to + Brébeuf, when they were together in the Neutral country. + See also the long notice of Brébeuf, written by his colleague, + Ragueneau, in the <i>Relation</i> of 1649; and Tanner, <i>Societas + Jesu Militans</i>, 533.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00604"> +In these enthusiasts we shall find striking examples of one of the morbid +forces of human nature; yet in candor let us do honor to what was genuine +in them,—that principle of self-abnegation which is the life of true +religion, and which is vital no less to the highest forms of heroism.</p> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_10" id="Chapter_10"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2><a href="#Contents10">CHAPTER X.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1637-1640.</span> + </h2> + <p class="smcapheader">PERSECUTION.</p> + <p class="noindent space-bottom"> + Ossossané • The New Chapel • + A Triumph of the Faith • The Nether Powers • + Signs of a Tempest • Slanders • + Rage against the Jesuits • + Their Boldness and Persistency • Nocturnal Council • + Danger of the Priests • Brébeuf's Letter • + Narrow Escapes • Woes and Consolations + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00609"> +<span class="smcap">The</span> town of Ossossané, or Rochelle, +stood, as we have seen, on the borders of Lake Huron, at the skirts of +a gloomy wilderness of pine. Thither, in May, 1637, repaired Father +Pijart, to found, in this, one of the largest of the Huron towns, +the new mission of the Immaculate Conception. +<a href="#footer_10-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +The Indians had promised Brébeuf to build a house for the +black-robes, and Pijart found the work in progress. There were at this +time about fifty dwellings in the town, each containing eight or ten +families. The quadrangular fort already alluded to had now been +completed by the Indians, under the instruction of the priests. +<a href="#footer_10-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-1" name="footer_10-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + The doctrine of the immaculate conception of the Virgin, + recently sanctioned by the Pope, has long been a favorite + tenet of the Jesuits. <br /> + <a id="footer_10-2" name="footer_10-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + <i>Lettres de Garnier</i>, MSS. It was of upright pickets, + ten feet high, with flanking towers at two angles.<br /> + </p> + </div> + +<p id="id00610"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> +The new mission-house was about seventy feet in length. No sooner had +the savage workmen secured the bark covering on its top and sides than +the priests took possession, and began their preparations for a notable +ceremony. At the farther end they made an altar, and hung such +decorations as they had on the rough walls of bark throughout half the +length of the structure. This formed their chapel. On the altar was a +crucifix, with vessels and ornaments of shining metal; while above hung +several pictures,—among them a painting of Christ, and another of the +Virgin, both of life-size. There was also a representation of the Last +Judgment, wherein dragons and serpents might be seen feasting on the +entrails of the wicked, while demons scourged them into the flames of +Hell. The entrance was adorned with a quantity of tinsel, together with +green boughs skilfully disposed. +<a href="#footer_10-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a></p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00611" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-3" name="footer_10-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + "Nostre Chapelle estoit extraordinairement bien ornée, + … nous auions dressé vn portique entortillé de + feüillage, meslé d'oripeau, en vn mot nous auions + estallé tout ce que vostre R. nous a enuoié de beau," + etc., etc.—Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1637</i>, 175, + 176.—In his <i>Relation</i> of the next year he recurs to the + subject, and describes the pictures displayed on this memorable + occasion.—<i>Relation des Hurons, 1638</i>, 33.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00612"> +Never before were such splendors seen in the land of the Hurons. Crowds +gathered from afar, and gazed in awe and admiration at the marvels of the +sanctuary. A woman came from a distant town to behold it, and, tremulous +between curiosity and fear, thrust her head into the mysterious recess, +declaring that she would see it, though the look should cost her life. +<a href="#footer_10-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a></p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-4" name="footer_10-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + <i>Ibid., 1637</i>, 176. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00613"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> +One is forced to wonder at, if not to admire, the energy with which these +priests and their scarcely less zealous attendants +<a href="#footer_10-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +toiled to carry their pictures and ornaments through the most arduous +of journeys, where the traveller was often famished from the sheer +difficulty of transporting provisions.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00614" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-5" name="footer_10-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + The Jesuits on these distant missions were usually attended by + followers who had taken no vows, and could leave their service at will, + but whose motives were religious, and not mercenary. Probably this was + the character of their attendants in the present case. They were known + as <i>donnés</i>, or "given men." It appears from a letter of + the Jesuit Du Peron, that twelve hired laborers were soon after sent up + to the mission. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00615"> +A great event had called forth all this preparation. Of the many +baptisms achieved by the Fathers in the course of their indefatigable +ministry, the subjects had all been infants, or adults at the point of +death; but at length a Huron, in full health and manhood, respected and +influential in his tribe, had been won over to the Faith, and was now to +be baptized with solemn ceremonial, in the chapel thus gorgeously +adorned. It was a strange scene. Indians were there in throngs, and the +house was closely packed: warriors, old and young, glistening in grease +and sunflower-oil, with uncouth locks, a trifle less coarse than a +horse's mane, and faces perhaps smeared with paint in honor of the +occasion; wenches in gay attire; hags muffled in a filthy discarded +deer-skin, their leathery visages corrugated with age and malice, and +their hard, glittering eyes riveted on the spectacle before them. +The priests, no longer in their daily garb of black, but radiant in their +surplices, the genuflections, the tinkling +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> +of the bell, the swinging of +the censer, the sweet odors so unlike the fumes of the smoky lodge-fires, +the mysterious elevation of the Host, (for a mass followed the baptism,) +and the agitation of the neophyte, whose Indian imperturbability fairly +deserted him,—all these combined to produce on the minds of the savage +beholders an impression that seemed to promise a rich harvest for the +Faith. To the Jesuits it was a day of triumph and of hope. The ice had +been broken; the wedge had entered; light had dawned at last on the long +night of heathendom. But there was one feature of the situation which in +their rejoicing they overlooked.</p> + +<p id="id00616"> +The Devil had taken alarm. He had borne with reasonable composure the +loss of individual souls snatched from him by former baptisms; but here +was a convert whose example and influence threatened to shake his Huron +empire to its very foundation. In fury and fear, he rose to the conflict, +and put forth all his malice and all his hellish ingenuity. Such, +at least, is the explanation given by the Jesuits of the scenes that +followed. +<a href="#footer_10-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +Whether accepting it or not, let us examine the +circumstances which gave rise to it.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00617" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-6" name="footer_10-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + Several of the Jesuits allude to this supposed excitement among the + tenants of the nether world. Thus, Le Mercier says, "Le Diable se + sentoit pressé de prés, il ne pouuoit supporter le + Baptesme solennel de quelques Sauuages des plus + signalez."—<i>Relation des Hurons, 1638</i>, 33.—Several + other baptisms of less note followed that above described. Garnier, + writing to his brother, repeatedly alludes to the alarm excited in + Hell by the recent successes of the mission, and adds,—"Vous + pouvez juger quelle consolation nous étoit-ce de voir le + diable s'armer contre nous et se servir de ses esclaves pour nous + attaquer et tâcher de nous perdre en haine de J. C." <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00618"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> +The mysterious strangers, garbed in black, who of late years had made +their abode among them, from motives past finding out, marvellous in +knowledge, careless of life, had awakened in the breasts of the Hurons +mingled emotions of wonder, perplexity, fear, respect, and awe. From the +first, they had held them answerable for the changes of the weather, +commending them when the crops were abundant, and upbraiding them in +times of scarcity. They thought them mighty magicians, masters of life +and death; and they came to them for spells, sometimes to destroy their +enemies, and sometimes to kill grasshoppers. And now it was whispered +abroad that it was they who had bewitched the nation, and caused the pest +which threatened to exterminate it.</p> + +<p id="id00619"> +It was Isaac Jogues who first heard this ominous rumor, at the town of +Onnentisati, and it proceeded from the dwarfish sorcerer already +mentioned, who boasted himself a devil incarnate. The slander spread +fast and far. Their friends looked at them askance; their enemies +clamored for their lives. Some said that they concealed in their houses +a corpse, which infected the country,—a perverted notion, derived from +some half-instructed neophyte, concerning the body of Christ in the +Eucharist. Others ascribed the evil to a serpent, others to a spotted +frog, others to a demon which the priests were supposed to carry in the +barrel of a gun. Others again gave out that they had pricked an infant +to death with awls in the forest, in order to kill the Huron children by +magic. "Perhaps," +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> +observes Father Le Mercier, "the Devil was enraged +because we had placed a great many of these little innocents in Heaven." +<a href="#footer_10-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a></p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00620" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-7" name="footer_10-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + "Le diable enrageoit peutestre de ce que nous avions placé + dans le ciel quantité de ces petits innocens."—Le Mercier, + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1638</i>, 12 (Cramoisy). <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00621"> +The picture of the Last Judgment became an object of the utmost terror. +It was regarded as a charm. The dragons and serpents were supposed to be +the demons of the pest, and the sinners whom they were so busily +devouring to represent its victims. On the top of a spruce-tree, near +their house at Ihonatiria, the priests had fastened a small streamer, +to show the direction of the wind. This, too, was taken for a charm, +throwing off disease and death to all quarters. The clock, once an +object of harmless wonder, now excited the wildest alarm; and the Jesuits +were forced to stop it, since, when it struck, it was supposed to sound +the signal of death. At sunset, one would have seen knots of Indians, +their faces dark with dejection and terror, listening to the measured +sounds which issued from within the neighboring house of the mission, +where, with bolted doors, the priests were singing litanies, mistaken for +incantations by the awe-struck savages.</p> + +<p id="id00622"> +Had the objects of these charges been Indians, their term of life would +have been very short. The blow of a hatchet, stealthily struck in the +dusky entrance of a lodge, would have promptly avenged the victims of +their sorcery, and delivered the country from peril. But the priests +inspired +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> +a strange awe. Nocturnal councils were held; their death was +decreed; and, as they walked their rounds, whispering groups of children +gazed after them as men doomed to die. But who should be the executioner? +They were reviled and upbraided. The Indian boys threw sticks at them as +they passed, and then ran behind the houses. When they entered one of +these pestiferous dens, this impish crew clambered on the roof, to pelt +them with snowballs through the smoke-holes. The old squaw who crouched +by the fire scowled on them with mingled anger and fear, and cried out, +"Begone! there are no sick ones here." The invalids wrapped their heads +in their blankets; and when the priest accosted some dejected warrior, +the savage looked gloomily on the ground, and answered not a word.</p> + +<p id="id00623"> +Yet nothing could divert the Jesuits from their ceaseless quest of dying +subjects for baptism, and above all of dying children. They penetrated +every house in turn. When, through the thin walls of bark, they heard +the wail of a sick infant, no menace and no insult could repel them from +the threshold. They pushed boldly in, asked to buy some trifle, spoke of +late news of Iroquois forays,—of anything, in short, except the +pestilence and the sick child; conversed for a while till suspicion was +partially lulled to sleep, and then, pretending to observe the sufferer +for the first time, approached it, felt its pulse, and asked of its +health. Now, while apparently fanning the heated brow, the dexterous +visitor touched it with a corner of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> +his handkerchief, which he had +previously dipped in water, murmured the baptismal words with motionless +lips, and snatched another soul from the fangs of the "Infernal Wolf." +<a href="#footer_10-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +Thus, with the patience of saints, the courage of heroes, and an +intent truly charitable, did the Fathers put forth a nimble-fingered +adroitness that would have done credit to the profession of which the +function is less to dispense the treasures of another world than to grasp +those which pertain to this.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00624" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-8" name="footer_10-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + <i>Ce loup infernal</i> is a title often bestowed in the + <i>Relations</i> on the Devil. The above details are gathered + from the narratives of Brébeuf, Le Mercier, and Lalemant, and + letters, published and unpublished, of several other Jesuits. + </p> + <p id="id00625"> + In another case, an Indian girl was carrying on her back a sick child, + two months old. Two Jesuits approached, and while one of them amused + the girl with his rosary, "l'autre le baptise lestement; le pauure petit + n'attendoit que ceste faueur du Ciel pour s'y enuoler." <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00626"> +The Huron chiefs were summoned to a great council, to discuss the state +of the nation. The crisis demanded all their wisdom; for, while the +continued ravages of disease threatened them with annihilation, the +Iroquois scalping-parties infested the outskirts of their towns, and +murdered them in their fields and forests. The assembly met in August, +1637; and the Jesuits, knowing their deep stake in its deliberations, +failed not to be present, with a liberal gift of wampum, to show their +sympathy in the public calamities. In private, they sought to gain the +good-will of the deputies, one by one; but though they were successful in +some cases, the result on the whole was far from hopeful.</p> + +<p id="id00627"> +In the intervals of the council, Brébeuf +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> +discoursed to the crowd of +chiefs on the wonders of the visible heavens,—the sun, the moon, the +stars, and the planets. They were inclined to believe what he told them; +for he had lately, to their great amazement, accurately predicted an +eclipse. From the fires above he passed to the fires beneath, till the +listeners stood aghast at his hideous pictures of the flames of +perdition,—the only species of Christian instruction which produced any +perceptible effect on this unpromising auditory.</p> + +<p id="id00628"> +The council opened on the evening of the fourth of August, with all the +usual ceremonies; and the night was spent in discussing questions of +treaties and alliances, with a deliberation and good sense which the +Jesuits could not help admiring. +<a href="#footer_10-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +A few days after, the assembly took up the more exciting question +of the epidemic and its causes. Deputies from three of the four Huron +nations were present, each deputation sitting apart. The Jesuits were +seated with the Nation of the Bear, in whose towns their missions were +established. Like all important councils, the session was held at night. +It was a strange scene. The light of the fires flickered aloft into the +smoky vault and among the soot-begrimed rafters of the great +council-house, +<a href="#footer_10-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +and cast an uncertain gleam on the wild and dejected throng +that filled the platforms and the floor. "I think I never saw anything +more lugubrious," writes Le Mercier: "they looked at +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> +each other like so +many corpses, or like men who already feel the terror of death. When +they spoke, it was only with sighs, each reckoning up the sick and dead +of his own family. All this was to excite each other to vomit poison +against us."</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00629" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-9" name="footer_10-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1638</i>, 38.<br /> + <a id="footer_10-10" name="footer_10-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + It must have been the house of a chief. The Hurons, unlike some + other tribes, had no houses set apart for public occasions. +<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00630"> +A grisly old chief, named Ontitarac, withered with age and stone-blind, +but renowned in past years for eloquence and counsel, opened the debate +in a loud, though tremulous voice. First he saluted each of the three +nations present, then each of the chiefs in turn,—congratulated them +that all were there assembled to deliberate on a subject of the last +importance to the public welfare, and exhorted them to give it a mature +and calm consideration. Next rose the chief whose office it was to +preside over the Feast of the Dead. He painted in dismal colors the +woful condition of the country, and ended with charging it all upon the +sorceries of the Jesuits. Another old chief followed him. "My brothers," +he said, "you know well that I am a war-chief, and very rarely speak +except in councils of war; but I am compelled to speak now, since nearly +all the other chiefs are dead, and I must utter what is in my heart +before I follow them to the grave. Only two of my family are left alive, +and perhaps even these will not long escape the fury of the pest. +I have seen other diseases ravaging the country, but nothing that could +compare with this. In two or three moons we saw their end: but now we +have suffered for a year and more, and yet the evil does not abate. +And what is worst of all, we have not yet discovered +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> +its source." +Then, with words of studied moderation, alternating with bursts of angry +invective, he proceeded to accuse the Jesuits of causing, by their +sorceries, the unparalleled calamities that afflicted them; and in +support of his charge he adduced a prodigious mass of evidence. When he +had spent his eloquence, Brébeuf rose to reply, and in a few words +exposed the absurdities of his statements; whereupon another accuser +brought a new array of charges. A clamor soon arose from the whole +assembly, and they called upon Brébeuf with one voice to give up a +certain charmed cloth which was the cause of their miseries. In vain the +missionary protested that he had no such cloth. The clamor increased.</p> + +<p id="id00631"> +"If you will not believe me," said Brébeuf, "go to our house; search +everywhere; and if you are not sure which is the charm, take all our +clothing and all our cloth, and throw them into the lake."</p> + +<p id="id00632"> +"Sorcerers always talk in that way," was the reply.</p> + +<p id="id00633"> +"Then what will you have me say?" demanded Brébeuf.</p> + +<p id="id00634"> +"Tell us the cause of the pest."</p> + +<p id="id00635"> +Brébeuf replied to the best of his power, mingling his explanations with +instructions in Christian doctrine and exhortations to embrace the Faith. +He was continually interrupted; and the old chief, Ontitarac, still +called upon him to produce the charmed cloth. Thus the debate continued +till after midnight, when several of the assembly, seeing no prospect of +a termination, fell asleep, and others +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> +went away. One old chief, as he +passed out, said to Brébeuf, "If some young man should split your head, +we should have nothing to say." The priest still continued to harangue +the diminished conclave on the necessity of obeying God and the danger of +offending Him, when the chief of Ossossané called out impatiently, +"What sort of men are these? They are always saying the same thing, +and repeating the same words a hundred times. They are never done with +telling us about their <i>Oki</i>, and what he demands and what he forbids, +and Paradise and Hell." +<a href="#footer_10-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-11" name="footer_10-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> +The above account of the council is drawn from Le Mercier, +<i>Relation des Hurons, 1638</i>, Chap. II. See also Bressani, +<i>Relation Abrégée,</i> 163.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00636"> +"Here was the end of this miserable council," writes Le Mercier; … +"and if less evil came of it than was designed, we owe it, after God, +to the Most Holy Virgin, to whom we had made a vow of nine masses in +honor of her immaculate conception."</p> + +<p id="id00637"> +The Fathers had escaped for the time; but they were still in deadly +peril. They had taken pains to secure friends in private, and there were +those who were attached to their interests; yet none dared openly take +their part. The few converts they had lately made came to them in secret, +and warned them that their death was determined upon. Their house was +set on fire; in public, every face was averted from them; and a new +council was called to pronounce the decree of death. They appeared +before it with a front of such unflinching assurance, that their judges, +Indian-like, postponed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> + the sentence. Yet it seemed impossible that they +should much longer escape. Brébeuf, therefore, wrote a letter of +farewell to his Superior, Le Jeune, at Quebec, and confided it to some +converts whom he could trust, to be carried by them to its destination.</p> + +<p id="id00638"> +"We are perhaps," he says, "about to give our blood and our lives in the +cause of our Master, Jesus Christ. It seems that His goodness will +accept this sacrifice, as regards me, in expiation of my great and +numberless sins, and that He will thus crown the past services and ardent +desires of all our Fathers here.… Blessed be His name forever, +that He has chosen us, among so many better than we, to aid him to bear +His cross in this land! In all things, His holy will be done!" He then +acquaints Le Jeune that he has directed the sacred vessels, and all else +belonging to the service of the altar, to be placed, in case of his death, +in the hands of Pierre, the convert whose baptism has been described, +and that especial care will be taken to preserve the dictionary and other +writings on the Huron language. The letter closes with a request for +masses and prayers. +<a href="#footer_10-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00639" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-12" name="footer_10-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + The following is the conclusion of the letter (Le Mercier, + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1638</i>, 43.)</p> + <p id="id00640"> + "En tout, sa sainte volonté soit faite; s'il veut que + dés ceste heure nous mourions, ô la bonne heure + pour nous! s'il veut nous reseruer à d'autres trauaux, + qu'il soit beny; si vous entendez que Dieu ait couronné + nos petits trauaux, ou plustost nos desirs, benissez-le: car + c'est pour luy que nous desirons viure et mourir, et c'est luy + qui nous en donne la grace. Au reste si quelques-vns suruiuent, + i'ay donné ordre de tout ce qu'ils doiuent faire. I'ay + esté d'aduis que nos Peres et nos domestiques se retirent + chez ceux qu'ils croyront estre leurs meilleurs amis; i'ay + donné charge qu'on porte chez Pierre nostre premier + Chrestien tout ce qui est de la Sacristie, sur tout qu'on ait + vn soin particulier de mettre en lieu d'asseurance le + Dictionnaire et tout ce que nous auons de la langue. Pour moy, + si Dieu me fait la grace d'aller au Ciel, ie prieray Dieu pour + eux, pour les pauures Hurons, et n'oublieray pas Vostre Reuerence.</p> + <p id="id00641"> + "Apres tout, nous supplions V. R. et tous nos Peres de ne nous + oublier en leurs saincts Sacrifices et prieres, afin qu'en la vie + et apres la mort, il nous fasse misericorde; nous sommes tous en + la vie et à l'Eternité, + </p> + <p id="id00642"> + "De vostre Reuerence tres-humbles et tres-affectionnez seruiteurs en + Nostre Seigneur,</p> + <p id="id00643" class="signatures"> + "Iean de Brebevf.<br /> + François Ioseph Le Mercier.<br /> + Pierre Chastellain.<br /> + Charles Garnier.<br /> + Pavl Ragveneav.<br /> + </p> + <p id="id00644" class="noindent small"> + "En la Residence de la Conception, à Ossossané,<br/> + <span class="margin-left-4em">ce 28 Octobre.</span> + </p> + <p id="id00645"> + "I'ay laissé en la Residence de sainct Ioseph les Peres + Pierre Piiart, et Isaac Iogves, dans les mesmes sentimens." <br/> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00646"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> +The imperilled Jesuits now took a singular, but certainly a very wise +step. They gave one of those farewell feasts—<i>festins +d'adieu</i>—which Huron custom enjoined on those about to die, +whether in the course of Nature or by public execution. Being interpreted, +it was a declaration that the priests knew their danger, and did not shrink +from it. It might have the effect of changing overawed friends into open +advocates, and even of awakening a certain sympathy in the breasts of an +assembly on whom a bold bearing could rarely fail of influence. The house +was packed with feasters, and Brébeuf addressed them as usual on +his unfailing themes of God, Paradise, and Hell. The throng listened in gloomy +silence; and each, when he had emptied his bowl, rose and departed, +leaving his entertainers in utter doubt as to his feelings and +intentions. From this time forth, however, the clouds that overhung the +Fathers became less +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> +dark and threatening. Voices were heard in their +defence, and looks were less constantly averted. They ascribed the +change to the intercession of St. Joseph, to whom they had vowed a nine +days' devotion. By whatever cause produced, the lapse of a week wrought +a hopeful improvement in their prospects; and when they went out of doors +in the morning, it was no longer with the expectation of having a hatchet +struck into their brains as they crossed the threshold. +<a href="#footer_10-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-13" name="footer_10-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> +"Tant y a que depuis le 6. de Nouembre que nous acheuasmes nos Messes +votiues à son honneur, nous auons iouy d'vn repos incroyable, +nons nous en emerueillons nous-mesmes de iour en iour, quand nous +considerons en quel estat estoient nos affaires il n'y a que huict +iours."—Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1638</i>, 44. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00648"> +The persecution of the Jesuits as sorcerers continued, in an intermittent +form, for years; and several of them escaped very narrowly. In a house +at Ossossané, a young Indian rushed suddenly upon François Du +Peron, and lifted his tomahawk to brain him, when a squaw caught his hand. +Paul Ragueneau wore a crucifix, from which hung the image of a skull. +An Indian, thinking it a charm, snatched it from him. The priest tried +to recover it, when the savage, his eyes glittering with murder, +brandished his hatchet to strike. Ragueneau stood motionless, waiting +the blow. His assailant forbore, and withdrew, muttering. Pierre +Chaumonot was emerging from a house at the Huron town called by the +Jesuits St. Michel, where he had just baptized a dying girl, when her +brother, standing hidden in the doorway, struck him on the head with a +stone. Chaumonot, severely +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> +wounded, staggered without falling, when the +Indian sprang upon him with his tomahawk. The bystanders arrested the +blow. François Le Mercier, in the midst of a crowd of Indians in a house +at the town called St. Louis, was assailed by a noted chief, who rushed +in, raving like a madman, and, in a torrent of words, charged upon him +all the miseries of the nation. Then, snatching a brand from the fire, +he shook it in the Jesuit's face, and told him that he should be burned +alive. Le Mercier met him with looks as determined as his own, till, +abashed at his undaunted front and bold denunciations, the Indian stood +confounded. +<a href="#footer_10-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00649" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-14" name="footer_10-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + The above incidents are from Le Mercier, Lalemant, Bressani, the + autobiography of Chaumonot, the unpublished writings of Garnier, and the + ancient manuscript volume of memoirs of the early Canadian missionaries, + at St. Mary's College, Montreal. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00650"> +The belief that their persecutions were owing to the fury of the Devil, +driven to desperation by the home-thrusts he had received at their hands, +was an unfailing consolation to the priests. "Truly," writes Le Mercier, +"it is an unspeakable happiness for us, in the midst of this barbarism, +to hear the roaring of the demons, and to see Earth and Hell raging +against a handful of men who will not even defend themselves." +<a href="#footer_10-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +In all the copious records of this dark period, not a line gives occasion +to suspect that one of this loyal band flinched or hesitated. The iron +Brébeuf, the gentle Garnier, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> +the all-enduring Jogues, the enthusiastic +Chaumonot, Lalemant, Le Mercier, Chatelain, Daniel, Pijart, Ragueneau, +Du Peron, Poncet, Le Moyne,—one and all bore themselves with a tranquil +boldness, which amazed the Indians and enforced their respect. +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00651" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-15" name="footer_10-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + "C'est veritablement un bonheur indicible pour nous, au milieu de + cette barbarie, d'entendre les rugissemens des demons, & de voir + tout l'Enfer & quasi tous les hommes animez & remplis de fureur + contre une petite poignée de gens qui ne voudroient pas se + defendre."—<i>Relation des Hurons, 1640</i>, 31 (Cramoisy). <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00652"> +Father Jerome Lalemant, in his journal of 1639, is disposed to draw an +evil augury for the mission from the fact that as yet no priest had been +put to death, inasmuch as it is a received maxim that the blood of the +martyrs is the seed of the Church. +<a href="#footer_10-16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +He consoles himself with the hope that the daily life of the missionaries +may be accepted as a living martyrdom; since abuse and threats without end, +the smoke, fleas, filth, and dogs of the Indian lodges,—which are, he +says, little images of Hell,—cold, hunger, and ceaseless anxiety, and +all these continued for years, are a portion to which many might prefer the +stroke of a tomahawk. Reasonable as the Father's hope may be, its expression +proved needless in the sequel; for the Huron church was not destined to +suffer from a lack of martyrdom in any form.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00653" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_10-16" name="footer_10-16"></a> + <span class="superscript">[16]</span> + "Nous auons quelque fois douté, sçauoir si on pouuoit + esperer la conuersion de ce païs sans qu'il y eust effusion de + sang: le principe reçeu ce semble dans l'Eglise de Dieu, que + le sang des Martyrs est la semence des Chrestiens, me faisoit + conclure pour lors, que cela n'estoit pas à esperer, voire + mesme qu'il n'étoit pas à souhaiter, consideré + la gloire qui reuient à Dieu de la constance des Martyrs, + du sang desquels tout le reste de la terre ayant tantost esté + abreuué, ce seroit vne espece de malediction, que ce quartier + du monde ne participast point au bonheur d'auoir contribué + à l'esclat de ceste gloire."—Lalemant, <i>Relation des + Hurons, 1639</i>, 56, 57.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_11" id="Chapter_11"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2><a href="#Contents11">CHAPTER XI.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1638-1640.</span> + </h2> + <p class="smcapheader">PRIEST AND PAGAN.</p> + <p class="noindent space-bottom"> + Du Peron's Journey • Daily Life of the Jesuits • + Their Missionary Excursions • + Converts at Ossossané • + Machinery of Conversion • Conditions of Baptism • + Backsliders • The Converts and their Countrymen • + The Cannibals at St. Joseph + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00658"> +<span class="smcap">We</span> have already touched on the domestic life +of the Jesuits. That we may the better know them, we will follow one of +their number on his journey towards the scene of his labors, and observe +what awaited him on his arrival. +</p> + +<p id="id00659"> +Father François Du Peron came up the Ottawa in a Huron canoe in +September, 1638, and was well treated by the Indian owner of the vessel. +Lalemant and Le Moyne, who had set out from Three Rivers before him, did +not fare so well. The former was assailed by an Algonquin of Allumette +Island, who tried to strangle him in revenge for the death of a child, +which a Frenchman in the employ of the Jesuits had lately bled, but had +failed to restore to health by the operation. Le +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> +Moyne was abandoned +by his Huron conductors, and remained for a fortnight by the bank of the +river, with a French attendant who supported him by hunting. Another Huron, +belonging to the flotilla that carried Du Peron, then took him into his +canoe; but, becoming tired of him, was about to leave him on a rock in +the river, when his brother priest bribed the savage with a blanket to +carry him to his journey's end.</p> + +<p id="id00660"> +It was midnight, on the twenty-ninth of September, when Du Peron landed +on the shore of Thunder Bay, after paddling without rest since one +o'clock of the preceding morning. The night was rainy, and +Ossossané was about fifteen miles distant. His Indian +companions were impatient to reach their towns; the rain prevented +the kindling of a fire; while the priest, who for a long time had +not heard mass, was eager to renew his communion as soon as possible. +Hence, tired and hungry as he was, he shouldered his sack, and took +the path for Ossossané without breaking his fast. He toiled +on, half-spent, amid the ceaseless pattering, trickling, and +whispering of innumerable drops among innumerable leaves, till, +as day dawned, he reached a clearing, and descried through the +mists a cluster of Huron houses. Faint and bedrenched, he entered the +principal one, and was greeted with the monosyllable +"<i>Shay!</i>"—"Welcome!" A squaw spread a mat for him by the +fire, roasted four ears of Indian corn before the coals, baked two squashes +in the embers, ladled from her kettle a dish of sagamite, and offered +them to her famished guest. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> +Missionaries seem to have been a novelty +at this place; for, while the Father breakfasted, a crowd, chiefly of +children, gathered about him, and stared at him in silence. One +examined the texture of his cassock; another put on his hat; a third +took the shoes from his feet, and tried them on her own. Du Peron +requited his entertainers with a few trinkets, and begged, by signs, +a guide to Ossossané. An Indian accordingly set out with him, +and conducted him to the mission-house, which he reached at +six o'clock in the evening.</p> + +<p id="id00661"> +Here he found a warm welcome, and little other refreshment. In respect +to the commodities of life, the Jesuits were but a step in advance of the +Indians. Their house, though well ventilated by numberless crevices in +its bark walls, always smelt of smoke, and, when the wind was in certain +quarters, was filled with it to suffocation. At their meals, the Fathers +sat on logs around the fire, over which their kettle was slung in the +Indian fashion. Each had his wooden platter, which, from the difficulty +of transportation, was valued, in the Huron country, at the price of a +robe of beaver-skin, or a hundred francs. +<a href="#footer_11-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +Their food consisted of sagamite, or "mush," made of pounded Indian-corn, +boiled with scraps of smoked fish. Chaumonot compares it to the paste +used for papering the walls of houses. The repast was occasionally +varied by a pumpkin or squash baked in the ashes, or, in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> +season, +by Indian corn roasted in the ear. They used no salt whatever. They +could bring their cumbrous pictures, ornaments, and vestments through the +savage journey of the Ottawa; but they could not bring the common +necessaries of life. By day, they read and studied by the light that +streamed in through the large smoke-holes in the roof,—at night, by the +blaze of the fire. Their only candles were a few of wax, for the altar. +They cultivated a patch of ground, but raised nothing on it except wheat +for making the sacramental bread. Their food was supplied by the Indians, +to whom they gave, in return, cloth, knives, awls, needles, and various +trinkets. Their supply of wine for the Eucharist was so scanty, that +they limited themselves to four or five drops for each mass. +<a href="#footer_11-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00662" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_11-1" name="footer_11-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + "Nos plats, quoyque de bois, nous coûtent plus cher que les + vôtres; ils sont de la valeur d'une robe de castor, + c'est à dire cent francs."—<i>Lettre du P. Du Peron + à son Frère, 27 Avril, 1639</i>.—The Father's + appraisement seems a little questionable. <br /> + <a id="footer_11-2" name="footer_11-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + The above particulars are drawn from a long letter of François + Du Peron to his brother, Joseph-Imbert Du Peron, dated at <i>La + Conception</i> (Ossossané), April 27, 1639, and from a letter, + equally long, of Chaumonot to Father Philippe Nappi, dated <i>Du Pays + des Hurons, May 26, 1640</i>. Both are in Carayon. These private + letters of the Jesuits, of which many are extant, in some cases + written on birch-bark, are invaluable as illustrations of the + subject.</p> + <p id="id00663"> + The Jesuits soon learned to make wine from wild grapes. Those in + Maine and Acadia, at a later period, made good candles from the + waxy fruit of the shrub known locally as the "bayberry." <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00664"> +Their life was regulated with a conventual strictness. At four in the +morning, a bell roused them from the sheets of bark on which they slept. +Masses, private devotions, reading religious books, and breakfasting, +filled the time until eight, when they opened their door and admitted the +Indians. As many of these proved intolerable nuisances, they took what +Lalemant calls the <i>honnête</i> liberty of turning out the most +intrusive and impracticable,—an +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> +act performed with all tact and +courtesy, and rarely taken in dudgeon. Having thus winnowed their company, +they catechized those that remained, as opportunity offered. In the +intervals, the guests squatted by the fire and smoked their pipes.</p> + +<p id="id00665">As among the Spartan virtues of the Hurons that of thieving was +especially conspicuous, it was necessary that one or more of the Fathers +should remain on guard at the house all day. The rest went forth on +their missionary labors, baptizing and instructing, as we have seen. +To each priest who could speak Huron +<a href="#footer_11-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +was assigned a certain number of houses,—in some instances, +as many as forty; and as these often had five or six fires, with +two families to each, his spiritual flock was as numerous as it +was intractable. It was his care to see that none of the number +died without baptism, and by every means in his power to commend +the doctrines of his faith to the acceptance of those in health.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00666" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_11-3" name="footer_11-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + At the end of the year 1638, there were seven priests who spoke +Huron, and three who had begun to learn it. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00667"> +At dinner, which was at two o'clock, grace was said in Huron,—for the +benefit of the Indians present,—and a chapter of the Bible was read +aloud during the meal. At four or five, according to the season, the +Indians were dismissed, the door closed, and the evening spent in writing, +reading, studying the language, devotion, and conversation on the affairs +of the mission.</p> + +<p id="id00668"> +The local missions here referred to embraced +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> +Ossossané and the villages +of the neighborhood; but the priests by no means confined themselves +within these limits. They made distant excursions, two in company, +until every house in every Huron town had heard the annunciation of the +new doctrine. On these journeys, they carried blankets or large mantles +at their backs, for sleeping in at night, besides a supply of needles, +awls, beads, and other small articles, to pay for their lodging and +entertainment: for the Hurons, hospitable without stint to each other, +expected full compensation from the Jesuits.</p> + +<p id="id00669"> +At Ossossané, the house of the Jesuits no longer served the double +purpose of dwelling and chapel. In 1638, they had in their pay twelve +artisans and laborers, sent up from Quebec, +<a href="#footer_11-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +who had built, before the close of the year, a chapel of wood. +<a href="#footer_11-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +Hither they removed their pictures and ornaments; and here, in winter, +several fires were kept burning, for the comfort of the half-naked +converts. +<a href="#footer_11-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +Of these they now had at Ossossané about sixty,—a large, +though evidently not a very solid nucleus for the Huron church,—and +they labored hard and anxiously to confirm and multiply them. Of a +Sunday morning in winter, one could have seen them coming to mass, +often from a considerable distance, "as naked," says Lalemant, +"as your hand, except a skin over their backs like a mantle, and, +in the coldest weather, a few skins around +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> +their feet and legs." +They knelt, mingled with the French mechanics, before the +altar,—very awkwardly at first, for the posture was new to +them,—and all received the sacrament together: a spectacle +which, as the missionary chronicler declares, repaid a hundred +times all the labor of their conversion. +<a href="#footer_11-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_11-4" name="footer_11-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Du Peron in Carayon, 173. <br /> + <a id="footer_11-5" name="footer_11-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + "La chapelle est faite d'une charpente bien jolie, + semblable presque, en façon et grandeur, + à notre chapelle de St. Julien."—<i>Ibid.</i>, + 183.<br /> + <a id="footer_11-6" name="footer_11-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1639</i>, 62.<br /> + <a id="footer_11-7" name="footer_11-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1639</i>, 62.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00670"> +Some of the principal methods of conversion are curiously illustrated in +a letter written by Garnier to a friend in France. "Send me," he says, +"a picture of Christ without a beard." Several Virgins are also +requested, together with a variety of souls in +perdition—<i>âmes damnées</i>—most of them to +be mounted in a portable form. Particular directions are given with +respect to the demons, dragons, flames, and other essentials of these +works of art. Of souls in bliss—<i>âmes +bienheureuses</i>—he thinks that one will be enough. All the +pictures must be in full face, not in profile; and they must look +directly at the beholder, with open eyes. The colors should be bright; +and there must be no flowers or animals, as these distract the +attention of the Indians. +<a href="#footer_11-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00671" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_11-8" name="footer_11-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + <i>Garnier, Lettre 17<span class="superscript">me</span></i>, MS. + These directions show an + excellent knowledge of Indian peculiarities. The Indian dislike + of a beard is well known. Catlin, the painter, once caused a fatal + quarrel among a party of Sioux, by representing one of them in + profile, whereupon he was jibed by a rival as being but + <i>half a man</i>. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00672"> +The first point with the priests was of course to bring the objects of +their zeal to an acceptance of the fundamental doctrines of the Roman +Church; but, as the mind of the savage was by no means +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> +that beautiful +blank which some have represented it, there was much to be erased as well +as to be written. They must renounce a host of superstitions, to which +they were attached with a strange tenacity, or which may rather be said +to have been ingrained in their very natures. Certain points of +Christian morality were also strongly urged by the missionaries, who +insisted that the convert should take but one wife, and not cast her off +without grave cause, and that he should renounce the gross license almost +universal among the Hurons. Murder, cannibalism, and several other +offences, were also forbidden. Yet, while laboring at the work of +conversion with an energy never surpassed, and battling against the +powers of darkness with the mettle of paladins, the Jesuits never had the +folly to assume towards the Indians a dictatorial or overbearing tone. +Gentleness, kindness, and patience were the rule of their intercourse. +<a href="#footer_11-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +They studied the nature of the savage, and conformed themselves to +it with an admirable tact. Far from treating the Indian as an alien and +barbarian, they would fain have adopted him as a countryman; and they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> +proposed to the Hurons that a number of young Frenchmen should settle +among them, and marry their daughters in solemn form. The listeners were +gratified at an overture so flattering. "But what is the use," they +demanded, "of so much ceremony? If the Frenchmen want our women, they +are welcome to come and take them whenever they please, as they always +used to do." +<a href="#footer_11-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00673" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_11-9" name="footer_11-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + The following passage from the "Divers Sentimens," before cited, +will illustrate this point. "Pour conuertir les Sauuages, il n'y faut +pas tant de science que de bonté et vertu bien solide. Les quatre +Elemens d'vn homme Apostolique en la Nouuelle France sont l'Affabilité, +l'Humilité, la Patience et vne Charité genereuse. Le zele trop ardent +brusle plus qu'il n'eschauffe, et gaste tout; il faut vne grande +magnanimité et condescendance, pour attirer peu à peu ces Sauuages. +Ils n'entendent pas bien nostre Theologie, mais ils entendent +parfaictement bien nostre humilité et nostre affabilité, et se laissent +gaigner."</p> + <p id="id00674"> + So too Brébeuf, in a letter to Vitelleschi, General of the + Jesuits (see Carayon, 163): "Ce qu'il faut demander, avant tout, + des ouvriers destinés à cette mission, c'est une + douceur inaltérable et une patience à toute + épreuve." <br /> + <a id="footer_11-10" name="footer_11-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + Le Mercier, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1637</i>, 160. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00675"> +The Fathers are well agreed that their difficulties did not arise from +any natural defect of understanding on the part of the Indians, who, +according to Chaumonot, were more intelligent than the French peasantry, +and who, in some instances, showed in their way a marked capacity. +It was the inert mass of pride, sensuality, indolence, and superstition +that opposed the march of the Faith, and in which the Devil lay +intrenched as behind impregnable breastworks. +<a href="#footer_11-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00676" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_11-11" name="footer_11-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + In this connection, the following specimen of Indian reasoning is worth +noting. At the height of the pestilence, a Huron said to one of the +priests, "I see plainly that your God is angry with us because we will +not believe and obey him. Ihonatiria, where you first taught his word, +is entirely ruined. Then you came here to Ossossané, and we would not +listen; so Ossossané is ruined too. This year you have been all through +our country, and found scarcely any who would do what God commands; +therefore the pestilence is everywhere." After premises so hopeful, +the Fathers looked for a satisfactory conclusion; but the Indian +proceeded—"My opinion is, that we ought to shut you out from all the +houses, and stop our ears when you speak of God, so that we cannot hear. +Then we shall not be so guilty of rejecting the truth, and he will not +punish us so cruelly."—Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1640</i>, 80. +<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00677"> +It soon became evident that it was easier to make a convert than to keep +him. Many of the Indians clung to the idea that baptism was a safeguard +against pestilence and misfortune; and when +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> +the fallacy of this notion +was made apparent, their zeal cooled. Their only amusements consisted of +feasts, dances, and games, many of which were, to a greater or less +degree, of a superstitious character; and as the Fathers could rarely +prove to their own satisfaction the absence of the diabolic element in +any one of them, they proscribed the whole indiscriminately, to the +extreme disgust of the neophyte. His countrymen, too, beset him with +dismal prognostics: as, "You will kill no more game,"—"All your hair +will come out before spring," and so forth. Various doubts also assailed +him with regard to the substantial advantages of his new profession; and +several converts were filled with anxiety in view of the probable want of +tobacco in Heaven, saying that they could not do without it. +<a href="#footer_11-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +Nor was it pleasant to these incipient Christians, as they sat in +class listening to the instructions of their teacher, to find +themselves and him suddenly made the targets of a shower of +sticks, snowballs, corn-cobs, and other rubbish, flung at them +by a screeching rabble of vagabond boys. +<a href="#footer_11-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_11-12" name="footer_11-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1639</i>, 80. <br /> + <a id="footer_11-13" name="footer_11-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + <i>Ibid.</i>, 78. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00678"> +Yet, while most of the neophytes demanded an anxious and diligent +cultivation, there were a few of excellent promise; and of one or two +especially, the Fathers, in the fulness of their satisfaction, assure us +again and again "that they were savage only in name." +<a href="#footer_11-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00679" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_11-14" name="footer_11-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + From June, 1639, to June, 1640, about a thousand persons were + baptized. Of these, two hundred and sixty were infants, and + many more were children. Very many died soon after baptism. + Of the whole number, less than twenty were baptized in + health,—a number much below that of the preceding year. + </p> + <p id="id00680"> + The following is a curious case of precocious piety. It is + that of a child at St. Joseph. "Elle n'a que deux ans, et + fait joliment le signe de la croix, et prend elle-même + de l'eau bénite; et une fois se mit à crier, + sortant de la Chapelle, à cause que sa mère + qui la portoit ne lui avoit donné le loisir d'en + prendre. Il l'a fallu reporter en + prendre."—<i>Lettres de Garnier</i>, MSS.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00681"> +<a id="id00681a" name="id00681a" ></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> +As the town of Ihonatiria, where the Jesuits had made their first abode, +was ruined by the pestilence, the mission established there, and known by +the name of St. Joseph, was removed, in the summer of 1638, to +Teanaustayé, a large town at the foot of a range of hills near the +southern borders of the Huron territory. The Hurons, this year, had had +unwonted successes in their war with the Iroquois, and had taken, at +various times, nearly a hundred prisoners. Many of these were brought to +the seat of the new mission of St. Joseph, and put to death with +frightful tortures, though not before several had been converted and +baptized. The torture was followed, in spite of the remonstrances of the +priests, by those cannibal feasts customary with the Hurons on such +occasions. Once, when the Fathers had been strenuous in their +denunciations, a hand of the victim, duly prepared, was flung in at their +door, as an invitation to join in the festivity. As the owner of the +severed member had been baptized, they dug a hole in their chapel, +and buried it with solemn rites of sepulture. +<a href="#footer_11-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00682" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_11-15" name="footer_11-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1639</i>, 70. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_12" id="Chapter_12"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00683"><a href="#Contents12">CHAPTER XII.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1639, 1640.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00684" class="smcapheader">THE TOBACCO NATION—THE NEUTRALS.</p> + <p id="id00685" class="noindent space-bottom"> + A Change of Plan • Sainte Marie • + Mission of the Tobacco Nation • + Winter Journeying • Reception of the Missionaries • + Superstitious Terrors • Peril of Garnier and Jogues • + Mission of the Neutrals • Huron Intrigues • + Miracles • Fury of the Indians • + Intervention of Saint Michael • Return to Sainte Marie • + Intrepidity of the Priests • Their Mental Exaltation + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00686"> +<span class="smcap">It</span> had been the first purpose of the +Jesuits to form permanent missions in each of the principal +Huron towns; but, before the close of the year 1639, the +difficulties and risks of this scheme had become fully +apparent. They resolved, therefore, to establish one +central station, to be a base of operations, and, as it were, +a focus, whence the light of the Faith should radiate through +all the wilderness around. It was to serve at once as residence, +fort, magazine, hospital, and convent. Hence the priests would +set forth on missionary expeditions far and near; and hither +they might retire, as to an asylum, in times of sickness or +extreme peril. Here the neophytes could be gathered +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> +together, +safe from perverting influences; and here in time a Christian +settlement, Hurons mingled with Frenchmen, might spring up and +thrive under the shadow of the cross.</p> + +<p id="id00687"> +The site of the new station was admirably chosen. The little river Wye +flows from the southward into the Matchedash Bay of Lake Huron, and, +at about a mile from its mouth, passes through a small lake. The Jesuits +made choice of the right bank of the Wye, where it issues from this +lake,—gained permission to build from the Indians, though not without +difficulty,—and began their labors with an abundant energy, and a very +deficient supply of workmen and tools. The new establishment was called +Sainte Marie. The house at Teanaustayé, and the house and chapel at +Ossossané, were abandoned, and all was concentrated at this spot. +On one hand, it had a short water communication with Lake Huron; and on +the other, its central position gave the readiest access to every part of +the Huron territory.</p> + +<p id="id00688"> +During the summer before, the priests had made a survey of their field of +action, visited all the Huron towns, and christened each of them with the +name of a saint. This heavy draft on the calendar was followed by +another, for the designation of the nine towns of the neighboring and +kindred people of the Tobacco Nation. +<a href="#footer_12-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +The Huron towns were portioned into four districts, while those of the +Tobacco Nation formed a fifth, and each district was assigned to the +charge of two or more +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> +priests. In November and December, they began their +missionary excursions,—for the Indians were now gathered in their +settlements,—and journeyed on foot through the denuded forests, in mud +and snow, bearing on their backs the vessels and utensils necessary for +the service of the altar.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_12-1" name="footer_12-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + See Introduction.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00689"> +The new and perilous mission of the Tobacco Nation fell to Garnier and +Jogues. They were well chosen; and yet neither of them was robust by +nature, in body or mind, though Jogues was noted for personal activity. +The Tobacco Nation lay at the distance of a two days' journey from the +Huron towns, among the mountains at the head of Nottawassaga Bay. +The two missionaries tried to find a guide at Ossossané; but none would +go with them, and they set forth on their wild and unknown pilgrimage +alone.</p> + +<p id="id00690"> +The forests were full of snow; and the soft, moist flakes were still +falling thickly, obscuring the air, beplastering the gray trunks, +weighing to the earth the boughs of spruce and pine, and hiding every +footprint of the narrow path. The Fathers missed their way, and toiled +on till night, shaking down at every step from the burdened branches a +shower of fleecy white on their black cassocks. Night overtook them in a +spruce swamp. Here they made a fire with great difficulty, cut the +evergreen boughs, piled them for a bed, and lay down. The storm +presently ceased; and, "praised be God," writes one of the travellers, +"we passed a very good night." +<a href="#footer_12-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_12-2" name="footer_12-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Jogues and Garnier in Lalemant, <i>Relation + des Hurons, 1640</i>, 95. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00691"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> +In the morning they breakfasted on a morsel of corn bread, and, resuming +their journey, fell in with a small party of Indians, whom they followed +all day without food. At eight in the evening they reached the first +Tobacco town, a miserable cluster of bark cabins, hidden among forests +and half buried in snow-drifts, where the savage children, seeing the two +black apparitions, screamed that Famine and the Pest were coming. +Their evil fame had gone before them. They were unwelcome guests; +nevertheless, shivering and famished as they were, in the cold and +darkness, they boldly pushed their way into one of these dens of +barbarism. It was precisely like a Huron house. Five or six fires +blazed on the earthen floor, and around them were huddled twice that +number of families, sitting, crouching, standing, or flat on the ground; +old and young, women and men, children and dogs, mingled pell-mell. +The scene would have been a strange one by daylight: it was doubly +strange by the flicker and glare of the lodge-fires. Scowling brows, +sidelong looks of distrust and fear, the screams of scared children, +the scolding of squaws, the growling of wolfish dogs,—this was the +greeting of the strangers. The chief man of the household treated them +at first with the decencies of Indian hospitality; but when he saw them +kneeling in the litter and ashes at their devotions, his suppressed fears +found vent, and he began a loud harangue, addressed half to them and half +to the Indians. "Now, what are these <i>okies</i> doing? They are making +charms to kill us, and destroy all +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> +that the pest has spared in this house. +I heard that they were sorcerers; and now, when it is too late, I believe +it." +<a href="#footer_12-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +It is wonderful that the priests escaped the tomahawk. Nowhere is the +power of courage, faith, and an unflinching purpose more strikingly +displayed than in the record of these missions.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_12-3" name="footer_12-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1640</i>, 96.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00692"> +In other Tobacco towns their reception was much the same; but at the +largest, called by them St. Peter and St. Paul, they fared worse. +They reached it on a winter afternoon. Every door of its capacious bark +houses was closed against them; and they heard the squaws within calling +on the young men to go out and split their heads, while children screamed +abuse at the black-robed sorcerers. As night approached, they left the +town, when a band of young men followed them, hatchet in hand, to put +them to death. Darkness, the forest, and the mountain favored them; and, +eluding their pursuers, they escaped. Thus began the mission of the +Tobacco Nation.</p> + +<p id="id00693"> +In the following November, a yet more distant and perilous mission was +begun. Brébeuf and Chaumonot set out for the Neutral Nation. This +fierce people, as we have already seen, occupied that part of Canada +which lies immediately north of Lake Erie, while a wing of their +territory extended across the Niagara into Western New York. +<a href="#footer_12-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +In their athletic proportions, the ferocity +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> +of their manners, and the +extravagance of their superstitions, no American tribe has ever exceeded +them. They carried to a preposterous excess the Indian notion, that +insanity is endowed with a mysterious and superhuman power. Their +country was full of pretended maniacs, who, to propitiate their guardian +spirits, or <i>okies</i>, and acquire the mystic virtue which pertained to +madness, raved stark naked through the villages, scattering the brands of +the lodge-fires, and upsetting everything in their way.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00694" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_12-4" name="footer_12-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Introduction.—The river Niagara was at this time, 1640, + well known to the Jesuits, though none of them had visited it. + Lalemant speaks of it as the "famous river of this nation" + (the Neutrals). The following translation, from his + <i>Relation</i> of 1641, shows that both Lake Ontario and + Lake Erie had already taken their present names.</p> + <p id="id00695"> + "This river" (the Niagara) "is the same by which our great + lake of the Hurons, or Fresh Sea, discharges itself, in the + first place, into Lake Erie (<i>le lac d'Erié</i>), + or the Lake of the Cat Nation. Then it enters the + territories of the Neutral Nation, and takes the name of + Onguiaahra (Niagara), until it discharges itself into Ontario, + or the Lake of St. Louis; whence at last issues the river + which passes before Quebec, and is called the St. Lawrence." + He makes no allusion to the cataract, which is first mentioned + as follows by Ragueneau, in the <i>Relation</i> of 1648.</p> + <p id="id00696"> + "Nearly south of this same Neutral Nation there is a great + lake, about two hundred leagues in circuit, named Erie + (Erié), which is formed by the discharge of the + Fresh Sea, and which precipitates itself by a cataract + of frightful height into a third lake, named Ontario, + which we call Lake St. Louis."—<i>Relation des + Hurons, 1648</i>, 46.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00697"> +The two priests left Sainte Marie on the second of November, found a +Huron guide at St. Joseph, and, after a dreary march of five days through +the forest, reached the first Neutral town. Advancing thence, they +visited in turn eighteen others; and their progress was a storm of +maledictions. Brébeuf especially was accounted the most pestilent of +sorcerers. The Hurons, restrained by a superstitious awe, and unwilling +to kill the priests, lest they should embroil themselves with the French +at +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> +Quebec, conceived that their object might be safely gained by stirring +up the Neutrals to become their executioners. To that end, they sent two +emissaries to the Neutral towns, who, calling the chiefs and young +warriors to a council, denounced the Jesuits as destroyers of the human +race, and made their auditors a gift of nine French hatchets on condition +that they would put them to death. It was now that Brébeuf, fully +conscious of the danger, half starved and half frozen, driven with +revilings from every door, struck and spit upon by pretended maniacs, +beheld in a vision that great cross, which, as we have seen, moved onward +through the air, above the wintry forests that stretched towards the land +of the Iroquois. +<a href="#footer_12-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_12-5" name="footer_12-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + See <i>ante</i>, <a href="#Page_109">(page 109)</a>.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00698"> +Chaumonot records yet another miracle. "One evening, when all the chief +men of the town were deliberating in council whether to put us to death, +Father Brébeuf, while making his examination of conscience, as we were +together at prayers, saw the vision of a spectre, full of fury, menacing +us both with three javelins which he held in his hands. Then he hurled +one of them at us; but a more powerful hand caught it as it flew: and +this took place a second and a third time, as he hurled his two remaining +javelins.… Late at night our host came back from the council, +where the two Huron emissaries had made their gift of hatchets to have us +killed. He wakened us to say that three times we had been at the point +of death; for the young men had offered three times +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> +to strike the blow, +and three times the old men had dissuaded them. This explained the +meaning of Father Brébeuf's vision." +<a href="#footer_12-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_12-6" name="footer_12-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + Chaumonot, <i>Vie</i>, 55.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00699"> +They had escaped for the time; but the Indians agreed among themselves, +that thenceforth no one should give them shelter. At night, pierced with +cold and faint with hunger, they found every door closed against them. +They stood and watched, saw an Indian issue from a house, and, by a quick +movement, pushed through the half-open door into this abode of smoke and +filth. The inmates, aghast at their boldness, stared in silence. +Then a messenger ran out to carry the tidings, and an angry crowd +collected.</p> + +<p id="id00700"> +"Go out, and leave our country," said an old chief, "or we will put you +into the kettle, and make a feast of you." +</p> + +<p id="id00701"> +"I have had enough of the dark-colored flesh of our enemies," said a +young brave; "I wish to know the taste of white meat, and I will eat +yours." +</p> + +<p id="id00702"> +A warrior rushed in like a madman, drew his bow, and aimed the arrow at +Chaumonot. "I looked at him fixedly," writes the Jesuit, "and commended +myself in full confidence to St. Michael. Without doubt, this great +archangel saved us; for almost immediately the fury of the warrior was +appeased, and the rest of our enemies soon began to listen to the +explanation we gave them of our visit to their country." +<a href="#footer_12-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_12-7" name="footer_12-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + <i>Ibid.</i>, 57.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00703"> +The mission was barren of any other fruit than +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> +hardship and danger, +and after a stay of four months the two priests resolved to return. +On the way, they met a genuine act of kindness. A heavy snow-storm +arresting their progress, a Neutral woman took them into her lodge, +entertained them for two weeks with her best fare, persuaded her father +and relatives to befriend them, and aided them to make a vocabulary of +the dialect. Bidding their generous hostess farewell, they journeyed +northward, through the melting snows of spring, and reached Sainte Marie +in safety. +<a href="#footer_12-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00704" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_12-8" name="footer_12-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + Lalemant, in his <i>Relation</i> of 1641, gives the narrative + of this mission at length. His account coincides perfectly + with the briefer notice of Chaumonot in his Autobiography. + Chaumonot describes the difficulties of the journey very + graphically in a letter to his friend, Father Nappi, dated + Aug. 3, 1640, preserved in Carayon. See also the next letter, + <i>Brébeuf au T. R. P. Mutio Vitelleschi, 20 Août, + 1641</i>.</p> + <p id="id00705"> + The Récollet La Roche Dallion had visited the Neutrals + fourteen years before, (see Introduction, <i>note</i>,) and, + like his two successors, had been seriously endangered by + Huron intrigues.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00706"> +The Jesuits had borne all that the human frame seems capable of bearing. +They had escaped as by miracle from torture and death. Did their zeal +flag or their courage fail? A fervor intense and unquenchable urged them +on to more distant and more deadly ventures. The beings, so near to +mortal sympathies, so human, yet so divine, in whom their faith +impersonated and dramatized the great principles of Christian +truth,—virgins, saints, and angels,—hovered over them, and held +before their raptured sight crowns of glory and garlands of immortal bliss. +They burned to do, to suffer, and to die; and now, from out a living martyrdom, +they turned their heroic gaze towards an +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> +horizon dark with perils yet +more appalling, and saw in hope the day when they should bear the cross +into the blood-stained dens of the Iroquois. +<a href="#footer_12-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_12-9" name="footer_12-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + This zeal was in no degree due to success; for in 1641, + after seven years of toil, the mission counted only about + fifty living converts,—a falling off from former + years.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00707"> +But, in this exaltation and tension of the powers, was there no moment +when the recoil of Nature claimed a temporary sway? When, an exile from +his kind, alone, beneath the desolate rock and the gloomy pine-trees, +the priest gazed forth on the pitiless wilderness and the hovels of its +dark and ruthless tenants, his thoughts, it may be, flew longingly beyond +those wastes of forest and sea that lay between him and the home of his +boyhood<ins title="In volume 7: 'boyhood. Or ...'.">: or</ins> +rather, led by a deeper attraction, they revisited the +ancient centre of his faith, and he seemed to stand once more in that +gorgeous temple, where, shrined in lazuli and gold, rest the hallowed +bones of Loyola. Column and arch and dome rise upon his vision, radiant +in painted light, and trembling with celestial music. Again he kneels +before the altar, from whose tablature beams upon him that loveliest of +shapes in which the imagination of man has embodied the spirit of +Christianity. The illusion overpowers him. A thrill shakes his frame, +and he bows in reverential rapture. No longer a memory, no longer a +dream, but a visioned presence, distinct and luminous in the forest +shades, the Virgin stands before him. Prostrate on the rocky earth, +he adores the benign angel of his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> +ecstatic faith, then turns with +rekindled fervors to his stern apostleship.</p> + +<p id="id00708"> +Now, by the shores of Thunder Bay, the Huron traders freight their birch +vessels for their yearly voyage; and, embarked with them, let us, too, +revisit the rock of Quebec.</p> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_13" id="Chapter_13"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00709"><a href="#Contents13">CHAPTER XIII.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1636-1646.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00710" class="smcapheader">QUEBEC AND ITS TENANTS.</p> + <p id="id00711" class="noindent space-bottom"> + The New Governor • Edifying Examples • + Le Jeune's Correspondents • Rank and Devotion • + Nuns • Priestly Authority • Condition of Quebec • + The Hundred Associates • Church Discipline • + Plays • Fireworks • Processions • + Catechizing • Terrorism • Pictures • + The Converts • The Society of Jesus • + The Foresters + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00713"> +<span class="smcap">I have</span> traced, in another volume, the +life and death of the noble founder of New France, Samuel de +Champlain. It was on Christmas Day, 1635, that his heroic spirit +bade farewell to the frame it had animated, and to the rugged +cliff where he had toiled so long to lay the corner-stone of +a Christian empire.</p> + +<p id="id00714"> +<a name="id00714a" id="id00714a"></a> +Quebec was without a governor. Who should succeed Champlain? and would +his successor be found equally zealous for the Faith, and friendly to the +mission? These doubts, as he himself tells us, agitated the mind of the +Father Superior, Le Jeune; but they were happily set at rest, when, +on a morning in June, he saw a ship anchoring in the basin below, and, +hastening with his brethren to the landing-place, was there met by +Charles Huault +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> +de Montmagny, a Knight of Malta, followed by a train of +officers and gentlemen. As they all climbed the rock together, Montmagny +saw a crucifix planted by the path. He instantly fell on his knees +before it; and nobles, soldiers, sailors, and priests imitated his +example. The Jesuits sang Te Deum at the church, and the cannon roared +from the adjacent fort. Here the new governor was scarcely installed, +when a Jesuit came in to ask if he would be godfather to an Indian about +to be baptized. "Most gladly," replied the pious Montmagny. He repaired +on the instant to the convert's hut, with a company of gayly apparelled +gentlemen; and while the inmates stared in amazement at the scarlet and +embroidery, he bestowed on the dying savage the name of Joseph, in honor +of the spouse of the Virgin and the patron of New France. +<a href="#footer_13-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +Three days +after, he was told that a dead proselyte was to be buried; on which, +leaving the lines of the new fortification he was tracing, he took in +hand a torch, De Lisle, his lieutenant, took another, Repentigny and +St. Jean, gentlemen of his suite, with a band of soldiers followed, +two priests bore the corpse, and thus all moved together in procession to +the place of burial. The Jesuits were comforted. Champlain himself had +not displayed a zeal so edifying. +<a href="#footer_13-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-1" name="footer_13-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1636</i>, 5 (Cramoisy). + "Monsieur le Gouverneur se transporte aux + Cabanes de ces pauures barbares, suivy d'une + leste Noblesse. Je vous laisse à penser + quel estonnement à ces Peuples de voir + tant d'écarlate, tant de personnes bien + faites sous leurs toits d'écorce!"<br /> + <a id="footer_13-2" name="footer_13-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + <i>Ibid.</i>, 83 (Cramoisy).<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00715"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> +A considerable reinforcement came out with Montmagny, and among the rest +several men of birth and substance, with their families and dependants. +"It was a sight to thank God for," exclaims Father Le Jeune, "to behold +these delicate young ladies and these tender infants issuing from their +wooden prison, like day from the shades of night." The Father, it will +be remembered, had for some years past seen nothing but squaws, with +papooses swathed like mummies and strapped to a board.</p> + +<p id="id00716"> +He was even more pleased with the contents of a huge packet of letters +that was placed in his hands, bearing the signatures of nuns, priests, +soldiers, courtiers, and princesses. A great interest in the mission had +been kindled in France. Le Jeune's printed <i>Relations</i> had been read +with avidity; and his Jesuit brethren, who, as teachers, preachers, and +confessors, had spread themselves through the nation, had successfully +fanned the rising flame. The Father Superior finds no words for his joy. +"Heaven," he exclaims, "is the conductor of this enterprise. Nature's +arms are not long enough to touch so many hearts." +<a href="#footer_13-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +He reads how in a single convent, thirteen +nuns have devoted themselves by a vow to the work of converting the +Indian women and children; how, in the church of Montmartre, a nun lies +prostrate day and night before the altar, praying for the mission; +<a href="#footer_13-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +how +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> +"the Carmelites are all +on fire, the Ursulines full of zeal, the sisters of the Visitation have +no words to speak their ardor"; +<a href="#footer_13-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +how some person +unknown, but blessed of Heaven, means to found a school for Huron +children; how the Duchesse d'Aiguillon has sent out six workmen to build +a hospital for the Indians; how, in every house of the Jesuits, young +priests turn eager eyes towards Canada; and how, on the voyage thither, +the devils raised a tempest, endeavoring, in vain fury, to drown the +invaders of their American domain. +<a href="#footer_13-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00717" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-3" name="footer_13-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + "C'est Dieu qui conduit cette entreprise. La Nature + n'a pas les bras assez longs," etc.—<i>Relation, + 1636</i>, 3.<br /> + <a id="footer_13-4" name="footer_13-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Brébeuf, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1636</i>, 76.<br /> + <a id="footer_13-5" name="footer_13-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1636</i>, 6. Compare + "Divers Sentimens," appended to the <i>Relation</i> + of 1635.<br /> + <a id="footer_13-6" name="footer_13-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + "L'Enfer enrageant de nous veoir aller en la Nouuelle + France pour conuertir les infidelles et diminuer sa + puissance, par dépit il sousleuoit tous les + Elemens contre nous, et vouloit abysmer la + flotte."—<i>Divers Sentimens</i>.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00718"> +Great was Le Jeune's delight at the exalted rank of some of those who +gave their patronage to the mission; and again and again his satisfaction +flows from his pen in mysterious allusions to these eminent persons. +<a href="#footer_13-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +In his eyes, the vicious +imbecile who sat on the throne of France was the anointed champion of the +Faith, and the cruel and ambitious priest who ruled king and nation alike +was the chosen instrument of Heaven. Church and State, linked in +alliance close and potential, played faithfully into each other's hands; +and that enthusiasm, in which the Jesuit saw the direct inspiration of +God, was fostered by all the prestige +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> +of royalty and all the patronage of +power. And, as often happens where the interests of a hierarchy are +identified with the interests of a ruling class, religion was become a +fashion, as graceful and as comforting as the courtier's embroidered +mantle or the court lady's robe of fur.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-7" name="footer_13-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + Among his correspondents was the young Duc d'Enghien, + afterwards the Great Condé, at this time fifteen + years old. "Dieu soit loüé! tout le + ciel de nostre chere Patrie nous promet de fauorables + influences, iusques à ce nouuel astre, qui + commence à paroistre parmy ceux de la premiere + grandeur."—Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1636</i>, 3, + 4.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00719"> +Such, we may well believe, was the complexion of the enthusiasm which +animated some of Le Jeune's noble and princely correspondents. But there +were deeper fervors, glowing in the still depths of convent cells, +and kindling the breasts of their inmates with quenchless longings. +Yet we hear of no zeal for the mission among religious communities of +men. The Jesuits regarded the field as their own, and desired no rivals. +They looked forward to the day when Canada should be another Paraguay. +<a href="#footer_13-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +It was to the +combustible hearts of female recluses that the torch was most busily +applied; and here, accordingly, blazed forth a prodigious and amazing +flame. "If all had their pious will," writes Le Jeune, "Quebec would +soon be flooded with nuns." +<a href="#footer_13-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-8" name="footer_13-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + "Que si celuy qui a escrit cette lettre a leu la + Relation de ce qui se passe au Paraguais, qu'il a + veu ce qui se fera un jour en la Nouuelle + France."—Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1637</i>, + 304 (Cramoisy). <br /> + <a id="footer_13-9" name="footer_13-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + Chaulmer, <i>Le Nouveau Monde Chrestien</i>, 41, + is eloquent on this theme.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00720"> +Both Montmagny and De Lisle were half churchmen, for both were Knights of +Malta. More and more the powers spiritual engrossed the colony. As +nearly as might be, the sword itself was in priestly hands. The Jesuits +were all in all. Authority, absolute and without appeal, was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> +vested in a +council composed of the governor, Le Jeune, and the syndic, an official +supposed to represent the interests of the inhabitants. +<a href="#footer_13-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +There was no tribunal of justice, and the governor pronounced summarily +on all complaints. The church adjoined the fort; and before it was +planted a stake bearing a placard with a prohibition against blasphemy, +drunkenness, or neglect of mass and other religious rites. To the +stake was also attached a chain and iron collar; and hard by was a +wooden horse, whereon a culprit was now and then mounted by way of +example and warning. +<a href="#footer_13-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +In a community so absolutely priest-governed, +overt offences were, however, rare; and, except on the annual arrival +of the ships from France, when the rock swarmed with godless sailors, +Quebec was a model of decorum, and wore, as its chroniclers tell us, +an aspect unspeakably edifying.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00721" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-10" name="footer_13-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + Le Clerc, <i>Établissement de la Foy</i>, + Chap. XV.<br /> + <a id="footer_13-11" name="footer_13-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1636</i>, 153, 154 (Cramoisy).<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00722"> +In the year 1640, various new establishments of religion and charity +might have been seen at Quebec. There was the beginning of a college and +a seminary for Huron children, an embryo Ursuline convent, an incipient +hospital, and a new Algonquin mission at a place called Sillery, four +miles distant. Champlain's fort had been enlarged and partly rebuilt in +stone by Montmagny, who had also laid out streets on the site of the +future city, though as yet the streets had no houses. Behind the fort, +and very near it, stood the church and a house for the Jesuits. Both +were of pine +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> +wood; and this year, 1640, both were burned to the ground, +to be afterwards rebuilt in stone. The Jesuits, however, continued to +occupy their rude mission-house of Notre-Dame des Anges, on the +St. Charles, where we first found them.</p> + +<p id="id00723"> +The country around Quebec was still an unbroken wilderness, with the +exception of a small clearing made by the Sieur Giffard on his seigniory +of Beauport, another made by M. de Puiseaux between Quebec and Sillery, +and possibly one or two feeble attempts in other quarters. +<a href="#footer_13-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +The total population did not much exceed two hundred, including women and +children. Of this number, by far the greater part were agents of the fur +company known as the Hundred Associates, and men in their employ. +Some of these had brought over their families. The remaining inhabitants +were priests, nuns, and a very few colonists.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00724" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-12" name="footer_13-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + For Giffard, Puiseaux, and other colonists, compare Langevin, + <i>Notes sur les Archives de Notre-Dame de Beauport</i>, 5, + 6, 7; Ferland, <i>Notes sur les Archives de N. D. de + Québec</i>, 22, 24 (1863); Ibid., <i>Cours + d'Histoire du Canada</i>, I. 266; Le Jeune, <i>Relation, + 1636</i>, 45; Faillon, <i>Histoire de la Colonie + Française</i>, I. c. iv., v.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00725"> +The Company of the Hundred Associates was bound by its charter to send to +Canada four thousand colonists before the year 1643. +<a href="#footer_13-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +It had neither the means nor the will to fulfil this +engagement. Some of its members were willing to make personal sacrifices +for promoting the missions, and building up a colony purely Catholic. +Others thought only of the profits of trade; and the practical affairs of +the company had passed entirely +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> +into the hands of this portion of its +members. They sought to evade obligations the fulfilment of which would +have ruined them. Instead of sending out colonists, they granted lands +with the condition that the grantees should furnish a certain number of +settlers to clear and till them, and these were to be credited to the +Company. +<a href="#footer_13-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +The grantees took the land, but rarely fulfilled the +condition. Some of these grants were corrupt and iniquitous. Thus, +a son of Lauson, president of the Company, received, in the name of a +third person, a tract of land on the south side of the St. Lawrence of +sixty leagues front. To this were added all the islands in that river, +excepting those of Montreal and Orleans, together with the exclusive +right of fishing in it through its whole extent. +<a href="#footer_13-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +Lauson sent out not a single colonist to these vast concessions.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00726" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-13" name="footer_13-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + See "Pioneers of France," 399. <br /> + <a id="footer_13-14" name="footer_13-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + This appears in many early grants of the Company. Thus, + in a grant to Simon Le Maître, Jan. 15, 1636, "que + les hommes que le dit … fera passer en la N. F. + tourneront à la décharge de la dite + Compagnie," etc., etc.—See <i>Pièces sur la + Tenure Seigneuriale</i>, published by the Canadian + government, <i>passim</i>.<br /> + <a id="footer_13-15" name="footer_13-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + <i>Archives du Séminaire de Villemarie</i>, + cited by Faillon, I. 350. Lauson's father owned + Montreal. The son's grant extended from the River + St. Francis to a point far above Montreal.—La + Fontaine, <i>Mémoire sur la Famille de + Lauson</i>.<br/> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00727"> +There was no real motive for emigration. No persecution expelled the +colonist from his home; for none but good Catholics were tolerated in New +France. The settler could not trade with the Indians, except on +condition of selling again to the Company at a fixed price. He might +hunt, but he could not fish; and he was forced to beg +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> +or buy food for +years before he could obtain it from that rude soil in sufficient +quantity for the wants of his family. The Company imported provisions +every year for those in its employ; and of these supplies a portion was +needed for the relief of starving settlers. Giffard and his seven men on +his seigniory of Beauport were for some time the only settlers—excepting, +perhaps, the Hébert family—who could support themselves throughout +the year. The rigor of the climate repelled the emigrant; nor were the +attractions which Father Le Jeune held forth—"piety, freedom, and +independence"—of a nature to entice him across the sea, when it is +remembered that this freedom consisted in subjection to the arbitrary +will of a priest and a soldier, and in the liability, should he forget to +go to mass, of being made fast to a post with a collar and chain, like a +dog.</p> + +<p id="id00728"> +Aside from the fur trade of the Company, the whole life of the colony was +in missions, convents, religious schools, and hospitals. Here on the +rock of Quebec were the appendages, useful and otherwise, of an +old-established civilization. While as yet there were no inhabitants, +and no immediate hope of any, there were institutions for the care of +children, the sick, and the decrepit. All these were supported by a +charity in most cases precarious. The Jesuits relied chiefly on the +Company, who, by the terms of their patent, were obliged to maintain +religious worship. +<a href="#footer_13-16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +Of the origin of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> +convent, hospital, and seminary I shall soon +have occasion to speak.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00729" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-16" name="footer_13-16"></a> + <span class="superscript">[16]</span> + It is a principle of the Jesuits, that each of its + establishments shall find a support of its own, and + not be a burden on the general funds of the Society. + The <i>Relations</i> are full of appeals to the + charity of devout persons in behalf of the missions. + </p> + <p id="id00730"> + "Of what use to the country at this period could have + been two communities of cloistered nuns?" asks the modern + historian of the Ursulines of Quebec. And he answers by + citing the words of Pope Gregory the Great, who, when + Rome was ravaged by famine, pestilence, and the + barbarians, declared that his only hope was in the prayers + of the three thousand nuns then assembled in the holy + city.—<i>Les Ursulines de Québec. Introd.</i>, + XI. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00731"> +Quebec wore an aspect half military, half monastic. At sunrise and +sunset, a squad of soldiers in the pay of the Company paraded in the +fort; and, as in Champlain's time, the bells of the church rang morning, +noon, and night. Confessions, masses, and penances were punctiliously +observed; and, from the governor to the meanest laborer, the Jesuit +watched and guided all. The social atmosphere of New England itself was +not more suffocating. By day and by night, at home, at church, or at his +daily work, the colonist lived under the eyes of busy and over-zealous +priests. At times, the denizens of Quebec grew restless. In 1639, +deputies were covertly sent to beg relief in France, and "to represent +the hell in which the consciences of the colony were kept by the union of +the temporal and spiritual authority in the same hands." +<a href="#footer_13-17"><span class="superscript">[17]</span></a> +In 1642, partial and ineffective +measures were taken, with the countenance of Richelieu, for introducing +into New France an Order less greedy of seigniories and endowments than +the Jesuits, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> +and less prone to political encroachment. +<a href="#footer_13-18"><span class="superscript">[18]</span></a> +No favorable result followed; and the colony remained as before, +in a pitiful state of cramping and dwarfing vassalage.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00732" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-17" name="footer_13-17"></a> + <span class="superscript">[17]</span> + "Pour leur representer la gehenne où estoient + les consciences de la Colonie, de se voir gouverné + par les mesmes personnes pour le spirituel et pour le + temporel."—Le Clerc, I. 478. <br /> + <a id="footer_13-18" name="footer_13-18"></a> + <span class="superscript">[18]</span> + <i>Declaration de Pierre Breant, par devant + les Notaires du Roy</i>, MS. The Order was + that of the Capuchins, who, like the + Récollets, are a branch of the + Franciscans. Their introduction into Canada + was prevented; but they established themselves + in Maine. + <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00733"> +This is the view of a heretic. It was the aim of the founders of New +France to build on a foundation purely and supremely Catholic. What this +involved is plain; for no degree of personal virtue is a guaranty against +the evils which attach to the temporal rule of ecclesiastics. Burning +with love and devotion to Christ and his immaculate Mother, the fervent +and conscientious priest regards with mixed pity and indignation those +who fail in this supreme allegiance. Piety and charity alike demand that +he should bring back the rash wanderer to the fold of his divine Master, +and snatch him from the perdition into which his guilt must otherwise +plunge him. And while he, the priest, himself yields reverence and +obedience to the Superior, in whom he sees the representative of Deity, +it behooves him, in his degree, to require obedience from those whom he +imagines that God has confided to his guidance. His conscience, then, +acts in perfect accord with the love of power innate in the human heart. +These allied forces mingle with a perplexing subtlety; pride, disguised +even from itself, walks in the likeness of love and duty; and a thousand +times on the pages +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> +of history we find Hell beguiling the virtues of +Heaven to do its work. The instinct of domination is a weed that grows +rank in the shadow of the temple, climbs over it, possesses it, covers +its ruin, and feeds on its decay. The unchecked sway of priests has +always been the most mischievous of tyrannies; and even were they all +well-meaning and sincere, it would be so still.</p> + +<p id="id00734"> +To the Jesuits, the atmosphere of Quebec was well-nigh celestial. +"In the climate of New France," they write, "one learns perfectly to seek +only God, to have no desire but God, no purpose but for God." And again: +"To live in New France is in truth to live in the bosom of God." "If," +adds Le Jeune, "any one of those who die in this country goes to +perdition, I think he will be doubly guilty." +<a href="#footer_13-19"><span class="superscript">[19]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00735" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-19" name="footer_13-19"></a> + <span class="superscript">[19]</span> + "La Nouuelle France est vn vray climat où on + apprend parfaictement bien à ne chercher que + Dieu, ne desirer que Dieu seul, auoir l'intention + purement à Dieu, etc.… Viure en la + Nouuelle France, c'est à vray dire viure dans + le sein de Dieu, et ne respirer que l'air de sa Diuine + conduite."—<i>Divers Sentimens</i>. "Si + quelqu'un de ceux qui meurent en ces contrées + se damne, je croy qu'il sera doublement + coupable."—<i>Relation, 1640</i>, 5 (Cramoisy).<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00736"> +The very amusements of this pious community were acts of religion. +Thus, on the fête-day of St. Joseph, the patron of New France, there was +a show of fireworks to do him honor. In the forty volumes of the Jesuit +<i>Relations</i> there is but one pictorial illustration; and this represents +the pyrotechnic contrivance in question, together with a figure of the +Governor in the act of touching it off. +<a href="#footer_13-20"><span class="superscript">[20]</span></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> +But, what is more curious, a Catholic writer of the present day, the Abbé +Faillon, in an elaborate and learned work, dilates at length on the +details of the display; and this, too, with a gravity which evinces his +conviction that squibs, rockets, blue-lights, and serpents are important +instruments for the saving of souls. +<a href="#footer_13-21"><span class="superscript">[21]</span></a> +On May-Day of the same year, 1637, Montmagny planted +before the church a May-pole surmounted by a triple crown, beneath which +were three symbolical circles decorated with wreaths, and bearing +severally the names, <i>Iesus, Maria, Ioseph</i>; the soldiers drew up +before it, and saluted it with a volley of musketry. +<a href="#footer_13-22"><span class="superscript">[22]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-20" name="footer_13-20"></a> + <span class="superscript">[20]</span> + <i>Relation, 1637</i>, 8. The <i>Relations</i>, as + originally published, comprised about forty volumes. <br /> + <a id="footer_13-21" name="footer_13-21"></a> + <span class="superscript">[21]</span> + <i>Histoire de la Colonie Française</i>, + I. 291, 292.<br /> + <a id="footer_13-22" name="footer_13-22"></a> + <span class="superscript">[22]</span> + <i>Relation, 1637</i>, 82.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00737"> +On the anniversary of the Dauphin's birth there was a dramatic +performance, in which an unbeliever, speaking Algonquin for the profit of +the Indians present, was hunted into Hell by fiends. +<a href="#footer_13-23"><span class="superscript">[23]</span></a> +Religious processions were frequent. In one of them, the +Governor in a court dress and a baptized Indian in beaver-skins were +joint supporters of the canopy which covered the Host. +<a href="#footer_13-24"><span class="superscript">[24]</span></a> +In another, six Indians led the van, arrayed each in a velvet coat of +scarlet and gold sent them by the King. Then came other Indian +converts, two and two; then the foundress of the Ursuline convent, +with Indian children in French gowns; then all the Indian girls +and women, dressed after their own way; then the priests; then the +Governor; and finally the whole French population, male and female, +except the artillery-men at the fort, who saluted with their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> +cannon the +cross and banner borne at the head of the procession. When all was over, +the Governor and the Jesuits rewarded the Indians with a feast. +<a href="#footer_13-25"><span class="superscript">[25]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-23" name="footer_13-23"></a> + <span class="superscript">[23]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1640</i>, 6.<br /> + <a id="footer_13-24" name="footer_13-24"></a> + <span class="superscript">[24]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1638</i>, 6.<br /> + <a id="footer_13-25" name="footer_13-25"></a> + <span class="superscript">[25]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1639</i>, 3.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00738"> +Now let the stranger enter the church of Notre-Dame de la Recouvrance, +after vespers. It is full, to the very porch: officers in slouched hats +and plumes, musketeers, pikemen, mechanics, and laborers. Here is +Montmagny himself; Repentigny and Poterie, gentlemen of good birth; +damsels of nurture ill fitted to the Canadian woods; and, mingled with +these, the motionless Indians, wrapped to the throat in embroidered +moose-hides. Le Jeune, not in priestly vestments, but in the common +black dress of his Order, is before the altar; and on either side is a +row of small red-skinned children listening with exemplary decorum, while, +with a cheerful, smiling face, he teaches them to kneel, clasp their +hands, and sign the cross. All the principal members of this zealous +community are present, at once amused and edified at the grave deportment, +and the prompt, shrill replies of the infant catechumens; while their +parents in the crowd grin delight at the gifts of beads and trinkets with +which Le Jeune rewards his most proficient pupils. +<a href="#footer_13-26"><span class="superscript">[26]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-26" name="footer_13-26"></a> + <span class="superscript">[26]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1637</i>, 122 (Cramoisy).<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00739"> +We have seen the methods of conversion practised among the Hurons. +They were much the same at Quebec. The principal appeal was to fear. +<a href="#footer_13-27"><span class="superscript">[27]</span></a> +"You do good to your friends," said Le Jeune to an Algonquin chief, +"and you burn your +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> +enemies. God does the same." And he painted Hell +to the startled neophyte as a place where, when he was hungry, he +would get nothing to eat but frogs and snakes, and, when thirsty, +nothing to drink but flames. +<a href="#footer_13-28"><span class="superscript">[28]</span></a> +Pictures were found invaluable. "These holy representations," pursues +the Father Superior, "are half the instruction that can be given to the +Indians. I wanted some pictures of Hell and souls in perdition, and a +few were sent us on paper; but they are too confused. The devils and the +men are so mixed up, that one can make out nothing without particular +attention. If three, four, or five devils were painted tormenting a soul +with different punishments,—one applying fire, another serpents, another +tearing him with pincers, and another holding him fast with a +chain,—this would have a good effect, especially if everything were made +distinct, and misery, rage, and desperation appeared plainly in his face." +<a href="#footer_13-29"><span class="superscript">[29]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00740" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-27" name="footer_13-27"></a> + <span class="superscript">[27]</span> + <i>Ibid., 1636</i>, 119, and <i>1637</i>, 32 (Cramoisy). + "La crainte est l'auan couriere de la foy dans ces + esprits barbares."<br /> + <a id="footer_13-28" name="footer_13-28"></a> + <span class="superscript">[28]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1637</i>, 80-82 (Cramoisy). + "Avoir faim et ne manger que des serpens et des + crapaux, avoir soif et ne boire que des flammes." + <br /> + <a id="footer_13-29" name="footer_13-29"></a> + <span class="superscript">[29]</span> + "Les heretiques sont grandement blasmables, de condamner + et de briser les images qui ont de si bons effets. Ces + sainctes figures sont la moitié de l'instruction + qu'on peut donner aux Sauuages. I'auois desiré + quelques portraits de l'enfer et de l'âme + damnée; on nous en a enuoyé quelques vns + en papier, mais cela est trop confus. Les diables sont + tellement meslez auec les hommes, qu'on n'y peut rien + recognoistre, qu'auec vne particuliere attention. Qui + depeindroit trois ou quatre ou cinq demons, tourmentans + vne âme de diuers supplices, l'vn luy appliquant + des feux, l'autre des serpens, l'autre la tenaillant, + l'autre la tenant liée auec des chaisnes, cela + auroit vn bon effet, notamment si tout estoit bien + distingué, et que la rage et la tristesse + parussent bien en la face de cette âme + desesperée"—<i>Relation, 1637</i>, + 32 (Cramoisy).<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00741"> +The preparation of the convert for baptism was often very slight. +A dying Algonquin, who, though +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> +meagre as a skeleton, had thrown himself, +with a last effort of expiring ferocity, on an Iroquois prisoner, and +torn off his ear with his teeth, was baptized almost immediately. +<a href="#footer_13-30"><span class="superscript">[30]</span></a> +In the case of converts in health there was far more preparation; yet +these often apostatized. The various objects of instruction may all be +included in one comprehensive word, submission,—an abdication of will +and judgment in favor of the spiritual director, who was the interpreter +and vicegerent of God. The director's function consisted in the +enforcement of dogmas by which he had himself been subdued, in which he +believed profoundly, and to which he often clung with an absorbing +enthusiasm. The Jesuits, an Order thoroughly and vehemently reactive, +had revived in Europe the mediæval type of Christianity, with all its +attendant superstitions. Of these the Canadian missions bear abundant +marks. Yet, on the whole, the labors of the missionaries tended greatly +to the benefit of the Indians. Reclaimed, as the Jesuits tried to +reclaim them, from their wandering life, settled in habits of peaceful +industry, and reduced to a passive and childlike obedience, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> +they would +have gained more than enough to compensate them for the loss of their +ferocious and miserable independence. At least, they would have escaped +annihilation. The Society of Jesus aspired to the mastery of all New +France; but the methods of its ambition were consistent with a Christian +benevolence. Had this been otherwise, it would have employed other +instruments. It would not have chosen a Jogues or a Garnier. The +Society had men for every work, and it used them wisely. It utilized the +apostolic virtues of its Canadian missionaries, fanned their enthusiasm, +and decorated itself with their martyr crowns. With joy and gratulation, +it saw them rival in another hemisphere the noble memory of its saint and +hero, Francis Xavier. +<a href="#footer_13-31"><span class="superscript">[31]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00742" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-30" name="footer_13-30"></a> + <span class="superscript">[30]</span> + "Ce seroit vne estrange cruauté de voir descendre + vne âme toute viuante dans les enfers, par le + refus d'vn bien que Iesus Christ luy a acquis au prix + de son sang."—<i>Relation, 1637</i>, 66 </p> + <p id="id00743"> + "Considerez d'autre coté la grande + appréhension que nous avions sujet de redouter la + guérison; pour autant que bien souvent + étant guéris il ne leur reste du St. + Baptême que le caractère."—<i>Lettres + de Garnier, MSS</i>.</p> + <p id="id00744"> + It was not very easy to make an Indian comprehend the nature + of baptism. An Iroquois at Montreal, hearing a missionary + speaking of the water which cleansed the soul from sin, said + that he was well acquainted with it, as the Dutch had once + given him so much that they were forced to tie him, hand + and foot, to prevent him from doing mischief.—Faillon, + II. 43.</p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-31" name="footer_13-31"></a> + <span class="superscript">[31]</span> + Enemies of the Jesuits, while denouncing them in + unmeasured terms, speak in strong eulogy of many of + the Canadian missionaries. See, for example, + Steinmetz, <i>History of the Jesuits</i>, II. 415.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00745"> +I have spoken of the colonists as living in a state of temporal and +spiritual vassalage. To this there was one exception,—a small class of +men whose home was the forest, and their companions savages. They +followed the Indians in their roamings, lived with them, grew familiar +with their language, allied themselves with their women, and often became +oracles in the camp and leaders on the war-path. Champlain's bold +interpreter, Étienne Brulé, whose adventures I have +recounted elsewhere, +<a href="#footer_13-32"><span class="superscript">[32]</span></a> +may be taken as a type of this class. +Of the rest, the most conspicuous were Jean Nicollet, Jacques Hertel, +François Marguerie, and Nicolas +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> +Marsolet. +<a href="#footer_13-33"><span class="superscript">[33]</span></a> +Doubtless, when they returned from their rovings, they often had +pressing need of penance and absolution; yet, for the most part, +they were good Catholics, and some of them were zealous for the +missions. Nicollet and others were at times settled as +interpreters at Three Rivers and Quebec. Several of them were +men of great intelligence and an invincible courage. From hatred +of restraint, and love of a wild and adventurous independence, +they encountered privations and dangers scarcely less than those +to which the Jesuit exposed himself from motives widely +different,—he from religious zeal, charity, and the hope of +Paradise; they simply because they liked it. Some of the best +families of Canada claim descent from this vigorous and hardy +stock.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00746" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_13-32" name="footer_13-32"></a> + <span class="superscript">[32]</span> + "Pioneers of France," 377.<br /> + <a id="footer_13-33" name="footer_13-33"></a> + <span class="superscript">[33]</span> + See Ferland, <i>Notes sur les Registres de N. + D. de Québec</i>, 30.</p> + <p id="id00747"> + Nicollet, especially, was a remarkable man. As early + as 1639, he ascended the Green Bay of Lake Michigan, + and crossed to the waters of the Mississippi. This + was first shown by the researches of Mr. Shea. See + his <i>Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi + Valley</i>, XX.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_14" id="Chapter_14"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00748"><a href="#Contents14">CHAPTER XIV.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1636-1652.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00749" class="smcapheader">DEVOTEES AND NUNS.</p> + <p id="id00750" class="noindent space-bottom"> + The Huron Seminary • Madame de la Peltrie • + Her Pious Schemes • Her Sham Marriage • + She visits the Ursulines of Tours • + Marie de Saint Bernard • Marie de l'Incarnation • + Her Enthusiasm • Her Mystical Marriage • + Her Dejection • Her Mental Conflicts • + Her Vision • Made Superior of the Ursulines • + The Hôtel-Dieu • The Voyage to Canada • + Sillery • Labors and Sufferings of the Nuns • + Character of Marie de l'Incarnation • + Of Madame de la Peltrie + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00752"> +<span class="smcap">Quebec</span>, as we have seen, had a seminary, +a hospital, and a convent, before it had a population. It will be +well to observe the origin of these institutions.</p> + +<p id="id00753"> +The Jesuits from the first had cherished the plan of a seminary for Huron +boys at Quebec. The Governor and the Company favored the design; since +not only would it be an efficient means of spreading the Faith and +attaching the tribe to the French interest, but the children would be +pledges for the good behavior of the parents, and hostages for the safety +of missionaries and traders +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> +in the Indian towns. +<a href="#footer_14-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> + In the summer of 1636, Father Daniel, descending from the +Huron country, worn, emaciated, his cassock patched and tattered, and his +shirt in rags, brought with him a boy, to whom two others were soon +added; and through the influence of the interpreter, Nicollet, the number +was afterwards increased by several more. One of them ran away, two ate +themselves to death, a fourth was carried home by his father, while three +of those remaining stole a canoe, loaded it with all they could lay their +hands upon, and escaped in triumph with their plunder. +<a href="#footer_14-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00754" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-1" name="footer_14-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + "M. de Montmagny cognoit bien l'importance de ce Seminaire + pour la gloire de Nostre Seigneur, et pour le commerce de + ces Messieurs"—<i>Relation, 1637</i>, 209 (Cramoisy). + <br /> + <a id="footer_14-2" name="footer_14-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1637</i>, 55-59. Ibid., + <i>Relation, 1638</i>, 23.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00755"> +The beginning was not hopeful; but the Jesuits persevered, and at length +established their seminary on a firm basis. The Marquis de Gamache had +given the Society six thousand crowns for founding a college at Quebec. +In 1637, a year before the building of Harvard College, the Jesuits began +a wooden structure in the rear of the fort; and here, within one +inclosure, was the Huron seminary and the college for French boys.</p> + +<p id="id00756"> +Meanwhile the female children of both races were without instructors; but +a remedy was at hand. At Alençon, in 1603, was born Marie Madeleine de +Chauvigny, a scion of the <i>haute noblesse</i> of Normandy. Seventeen years +later she was a young lady, abundantly wilful and superabundantly +enthusiastic,—one who, in other circumstances, might perhaps have made a +romantic elopement +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> +and a <i>mésalliance</i>. +<a href="#footer_14-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +But her impressible and +ardent nature was absorbed in other objects. Religion and its ministers +possessed her wholly, and all her enthusiasm was spent on works of +charity and devotion. Her father, passionately fond of her, resisted her +inclination for the cloister, and sought to wean her back to the world; +but she escaped from the chateau to a neighboring convent, where she +resolved to remain. Her father followed, carried her home, and engaged +her in a round of fêtes and hunting parties, in the midst of which she +found herself surprised into a betrothal to M. de la Peltrie, a young +gentleman of rank and character. The marriage proved a happy one, +and Madame de la Peltrie, with an excellent grace, bore her part in the +world she had wished to renounce. After a union of five years, her +husband died, and she was left a widow and childless at the age of +twenty-two. She returned to the religious ardors of her girlhood, +again gave all her thoughts to devotion and charity, and again resolved +to be a nun. She had heard of Canada; and when Le Jeune's first +<i>Relations</i> appeared, she read them with avidity. "Alas!" wrote +the Father, "is there no charitable and virtuous lady who will come to +this country to gather up the blood of Christ, by teaching His word to +the little Indian girls?" +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> +His appeal found a prompt and vehement response +from the breast of Madame de la Peltrie. Thenceforth she thought of +nothing but Canada. In the midst of her zeal, a fever seized her. The +physicians despaired; but, at the height of the disease, the patient made +a vow to St. Joseph, that, should God restore her to health, she would +build a house in honor of Him in Canada, and give her life and her wealth +to the instruction of Indian girls. On the following morning, say her +biographers, the fever had left her.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00757" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-3" name="footer_14-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + There is a portrait of her, taken at a later period, of which a + photograph is before me. She has a semi-religious dress, hands + clasped in prayer, large dark eyes, a smiling and mischievous + mouth, and a face somewhat pretty and very coquettish. An + engraving from the portrait is prefixed to the "Notice + Biographique de Madame de la Peltrie" in <i>Les Ursulines + de Québec</i>, I. 348.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00758"> +Meanwhile her relatives, or those of her husband, had confirmed her pious +purposes by attempting to thwart them. They pronounced her a romantic +visionary, incompetent to the charge of her property. Her father, too, +whose fondness for her increased with his advancing age, entreated her to +remain with him while he lived, and to defer the execution of her plans +till he should be laid in his grave. From entreaties he passed to +commands, and at length threatened to disinherit her, if she persisted. +The virtue of obedience, for which she is extolled by her clerical +biographers, however abundantly exhibited in respect to those who held +charge of her conscience, was singularly wanting towards the parent who, +in the way of Nature, had the best claim to its exercise; and Madame de +la Peltrie was more than ever resolved to go to Canada. Her father, +on his part, was urgent that she should marry again. On this she took +counsel of a Jesuit, +<a href="#footer_14-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +who, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> +"having seriously reflected before God," +suggested a device, which to the heretical mind is a little startling, +but which commended itself to Madame de la Peltrie as fitted at once to +soothe the troubled spirit of her father, and to save her from the sin +involved in the abandonment of her pious designs.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00759" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-4" name="footer_14-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + "Partagée ainsi entre l'amour filial et la religion, + en proie aux plus poignantes angoisses, elle s'adressa + à un religieux de la Compagnie de Jésus, dont + elle connaissait la prudence consommée, et le supplia de + l'éclairer de ses lumières. Ce religieux, + après y avoir sérieusement réfléchi + devant Dieu, lui répondit qu'il croyait avoir trouvé + un moyen de tout concilier."—Casgrain, <i>Vie de Marie + de l'Incarnation</i>, 243.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00760"> +Among her acquaintance was M. de Bernières, a gentleman of high rank, +great wealth, and zealous devotion. She wrote to him, explained the +situation, and requested him to feign a marriage with her. His sense of +honor recoiled: moreover, in the fulness of his zeal, he had made a vow +of chastity, and an apparent breach of it would cause scandal. He +consulted his spiritual director and a few intimate friends. All agreed +that the glory of God was concerned, and that it behooved him to accept +the somewhat singular overtures of the young widow, +<a href="#footer_14-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +and request her +hand from her father. M. de Chauvigny, who greatly esteemed Bernières, +was delighted; and his delight was raised to transport at the dutiful and +modest acquiescence of his daughter. +<a href="#footer_14-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +A betrothal took place; all was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> +harmony, and for a time no more was said of disinheriting Madame de +la Peltrie, or putting her in wardship.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00761" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-5" name="footer_14-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + "Enfin après avoir longtemps imploré les + lumières du ciel, il remit toute l'affaire entre + les mains de son directeur et de quelques amis intimes. + Tous, d'un commun accord, lui déclarèrent + que la gloire de Dieu y était interessée, + et qu'il devait accepter."—<i>Ibid.</i>, 244.<br /> + <a id="footer_14-6" name="footer_14-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + "The prudent young widow answered him with much respect + and modesty, that, as she knew M. de Bernières to + be a favorite with him, <i>she</i> also preferred him to + all others."</p> + <p id="id00762"> + The above is from a letter of Marie de l'Incarnation, + translated by Mother St. Thomas, of the Ursuline convent + of Quebec, in her <i>Life of Madame de la Peltrie</i>, + 41. Compare <i>Les Ursulines de Québec</i>, 10, + and the "Notice Biographique" in the same volume.<br/> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00763"> +Bernières's scruples returned. Divided between honor and conscience, +he postponed the marriage, until at length M. de Chauvigny conceived +misgivings, and again began to speak of disinheriting his daughter, +unless the engagement was fulfilled. +<a href="#footer_14-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +Bernières yielded, and went +with Madame de la Peltrie to consult "the most eminent divines." +<a href="#footer_14-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +A sham marriage took place, and she and her accomplice appeared in public +as man and wife. Her relatives, however, had already renewed their +attempts to deprive her of the control of her property. A suit, of what +nature does not appear, had been decided against her at Caen, and she had +appealed to the Parliament of Normandy. Her lawyers were in despair; but, +as her biographer justly observes, "the saints have resources which +others have not." A vow to St. Joseph secured his intercession and +gained her case. Another thought now filled her with agitation. Her +plans were laid, and the time of action drew near. How could she endure +the distress of her father, when he learned that she had deluded him with +a false +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> +marriage, and that she and all that was hers were bound for the +wilderness of Canada? Happily for him, he fell ill, and died in +ignorance of the deceit that had been practised upon him. +<a href="#footer_14-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00764" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-7" name="footer_14-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + "Our virtuous widow did not lose courage. As she had given her + confidence to M. de Bernières, she informed him of all + that passed, while she flattered her father each day, telling + him that this nobleman was too honorable to fail in keeping his + word."—St. Thomas, <i>Life of Madame de la Peltrie</i>, 42.<br /> + <a id="footer_14-8" name="footer_14-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + "He" (Bernières) "went to stay at the house of a mutual + friend, where they had frequent opportunities of seeing each + other, and consulting the most eminent divines on the means of + effecting this pretended marriage."—<i>Ibid.</i>, 43.<br /> + <a id="footer_14-9" name="footer_14-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + It will be of interest to observe the view taken of this pretended + marriage by Madame de la Peltrie's Catholic biographers. + Charlevoix tells the story without comment, but with apparent + approval. Sainte-Foi, in his <i>Premières Ursulines de + France</i>, says, that, as God had taken her under His guidance, + we should not venture to criticize her. Casgrain, in his + <i>Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation</i>, remarks:—</p> + <p id="id00765"> + "Une telle conduite peut encore aujourd'hui paraître + étrange à bien des personnes; mais outre que + l'avenir fit bien voir que c'était une inspiration + du ciel, nous pouvons répondre, avec un savant et pieux + auteur, que nous ne devons point juger ceux que Dieu se charge + lui-même de conduire."—p. 247.</p> + <p id="id00766"> + Mother St. Thomas highly approves the proceeding, + and says:—</p> + <p id="id00767"> + "Thus ended the pretended engagement of this virtuous lady + and gentleman, which caused, at the time, so much inquiry + and excitement among the nobility in France, and which, + after a lapse of two hundred years, cannot fail exciting + feelings of admiration in the heart of every virtuous + woman!"</p> + <p id="id00768"> + Surprising as it may appear, the book from which the above + is taken was written a few years since, in so-called English, + for the instruction of the pupils in the Ursuline Convent at + Quebec.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00769"> +Whatever may be thought of the quality of Madame de la Peltrie's devotion, +there can be no reasonable doubt of its sincerity or its ardor; and yet +one can hardly fail to see in her the signs of that restless longing for +<i>éclat</i>, which, with some women, is a ruling passion. When, +in company with Bernières, she passed from Alençon to Tours, +and from Tours to Paris, an object of attention to nuns, priests, and +prelates,—when the Queen herself summoned her to an interview,—it +may be that the profound contentment of soul ascribed to her had its +origin in sources not exclusively of the spirit. At Tours, she repaired +to the Ursuline convent. The Superior and all the nuns met her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> +at the +entrance of the cloister, and, separating into two rows as she appeared, +sang the <i>Veni Creator</i>, while the bell of the monastery sounded its +loudest peal. Then they led her in triumph to their church, sang +<i>Te Deum</i>, and, while the honored guest knelt before the altar, +all the sisterhood knelt around her in a semicircle. Their hearts beat +high within them. That day they were to know who of their number were +chosen for the new convent of Quebec, of which Madame de la Peltrie was +to be the foundress; and when their devotions were over, they flung +themselves at her feet, each begging with tears that the lot might fall +on her. Aloof from this throng of enthusiastic suppliants stood a young +nun, Marie de St. Bernard, too timid and too modest to ask the boon for +which her fervent heart was longing. It was granted without asking. +This delicate girl was chosen, and chosen wisely. +<a href="#footer_14-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00770" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-10" name="footer_14-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + Casgrain, <i>Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation</i>, + 271-273. There is a long account of Marie de St. + Bernard, by Ragueneau, in the <i>Relation</i> of + 1652. Here it is said that she showed an unaccountable + indifference as to whether she went to Canada or not, + which, however, was followed by an ardent desire to go. + <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00771"> +There was another nun who stood apart, silent and motionless,—a stately +figure, with features strongly marked and perhaps somewhat masculine; +<a href="#footer_14-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +but, if so, they belied her, for Marie de l'Incarnation was a woman +to the core. For her there was no need of entreaties; for she knew that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> +the Jesuits had made her their choice, as Superior of the new convent. +She was born, forty years before, at Tours, of a good <i>bourgeois</i> family. +As she grew up towards maturity, her qualities soon declared themselves. +She had uncommon talents and strong religious susceptibilities, joined to +a vivid imagination,—an alliance not always desirable under a form of +faith where both are excited by stimulants so many and so powerful. +Like Madame de la Peltrie, she married, at the desire of her +<ins title="Changed period after parents to a comma.">parents,</ins> +in her eighteenth year. The marriage was not happy. Her biographers say +that there was no fault on either side. Apparently, it was a severe case +of "incompatibility." She sought her consolation in the churches; and, +kneeling in dim chapels, held communings with Christ and the angels. +At the end of two years her husband died, leaving her with an infant son. +She gave him to the charge of her sister, abandoned herself to solitude +and meditation, and became a mystic of the intense and passional school. +Yet a strong maternal instinct battled painfully in her breast with a +sense of religious vocation. Dreams, visions, interior voices, ecstasies, +revulsions, periods of rapture and periods of deep dejection, made up the +agitated tissue of her life. She fasted, wore hair-cloth, scourged +herself, washed dishes among the servants, and did their most menial +work. She heard, in a trance, a miraculous voice. It was that of Christ, +promising to become her spouse. Months and years passed, full of +troubled hopes and fears, when again the voice sounded in her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> +ear, +with assurance that the promise was fulfilled, and that she was indeed +his bride. Now ensued phenomena which are not infrequent among Roman +Catholic female devotees, when unmarried, or married unhappily, and which +have their source in the necessities of a woman's nature. To her excited +thought, her divine spouse became a living presence; and her language to +him, as recorded by herself, is that of the most intense passion. +She went to prayer, agitated and tremulous, as if to a meeting with an +earthly lover. "O my Love!" she exclaimed, "when shall I embrace you? +Have you no pity on me in the torments that I suffer? Alas! alas! my +Love, my Beauty, my Life! instead of healing my pain, you take pleasure +in it. Come, let me embrace you, and die in your sacred arms!" And +again she writes: "Then, as I was spent with fatigue, I was forced to say, +'My divine Love, since you wish me to live, I pray you let me rest a +little, that I may the better serve you'; and I promised him that +afterward I would suffer myself to consume in his chaste and divine +embraces." +<a href="#footer_14-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00772" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-11" name="footer_14-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + There is an engraved portrait of her, taken some years later, + of which a photograph is before me. When she was "in the world," her + stately proportions are said to have attracted general attention. + Her family name was Marie Guyard. She was born on the eighteenth of + October, 1599.<br /> + <a id="footer_14-12" name="footer_14-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + "Allant à l'oraison, je tressaillois en moi-même, + et disois: Allons dans la solitude, mon cher amour, afin que je + vous embrasse à mon aise, et que, respirant mon âme + en vous, elle ne soit plus que vous-même par union + d'amour.… Puis, mon corps étant brisé de + fatigues, j'étois contrainte de dire: Mon divin amour, + je vous prie de me laisser prendre un peu de repos, afin que + je puisse mieux vous servir, puisque vous voulez que je + vive.… Je le priois de me laisser agir; lui promettant + de me laisser après cela consumer dans ses chastes et divins + embrassemens.… O amour! quand vous embrasserai-je? + N'avez-vous point pitié de moi dans le tourment que je + souffre? helas! helas! mon amour, ma beauté, ma vie! au + lieu de me guérir, vous vous plaisez à mes maux. + Venez donc que je vous embrasse, et que je meure entre vos bras + sacréz!"</p> + <p id="id00773"> + The above passages, from various pages of her journal, will suffice, + though they give but an inadequate idea of these strange extravagances. + What is most astonishing is, that a man of sense like Charlevoix, in his + Life of Marie de l'Incarnation, should extract them in full, as matter + of edification and evidence of saintship. Her recent biographer, the + Abbé Casgrain, refrains from quoting them, though he mentions + them approvingly as evincing fervor. The Abbé Racine, in his + <i>Discours à l'Occasion du + 192<span class="superscript">ème</span> Anniversaire de + l'heureuse Mort de la Vén. Mère de l'Incarnation</i>, + delivered at Quebec in 1864, speaks of them as transcendent proofs of + the supreme favor of Heaven.—Some of the pupils of Marie de + l'Incarnation also had mystical marriages with Christ; and the + impassioned rhapsodies of one of them being overheard, she nearly lost + her character, as it was thought that she was apostrophsizing an + earthly lover.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00774"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> +Clearly, here is a case for the physiologist as well as the theologian; +and the "holy widow," as her biographers call her, becomes an example, +and a lamentable one, of the tendency of the erotic principle to ally +itself with high religious excitement.</p> + +<p id="id00775"> +But the wings of imagination will tire and droop, the brightest +dream-land of contemplative fancy grow dim, and an abnormal tension of +the faculties find its inevitable reaction at last. From a condition of +highest exaltation, a mystical heaven of light and glory, the unhappy +dreamer fell back to a dreary earth, or rather to an abyss of darkness +and misery. Her biographers tell us that she became a prey to dejection, +and thoughts of infidelity, despair, estrangement from God, aversion to +mankind, pride, vanity, impurity, and a supreme disgust at the rites of +religion. Exhaustion produced common-sense, and the dreams which had +been her life now seemed a tissue of illusions. Her confessor became a +weariness to her, and his words fell dead on her ear. Indeed, she +conceived a repugnance to the holy man. Her old and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> +favorite confessor, +her oracle, guide, and comforter, had lately been taken from her by +promotion in the Church,—which may serve to explain her dejection; and +the new one, jealous of his predecessor, told her that all his counsels +had been visionary and dangerous to her soul. Having overwhelmed her +with this announcement, he left her, apparently out of patience with her +refractory and gloomy mood; and she remained for several months deprived +of spiritual guidance. +<a href="#footer_14-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +Two years elapsed before +her mind recovered its tone, when she soared once more in the seventh +heaven of imaginative devotion.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00776" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-13" name="footer_14-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + Casgrain, 195-197. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00777"> +Marie de l'Incarnation, we have seen, was unrelenting in every practice +of humiliation; dressed in mean attire, did the servants' work, nursed +sick beggars, and, in her meditations, taxed her brain with metaphysical +processes of self-annihilation. And yet, when one reads her "Spiritual +Letters," the conviction of an enormous spiritual pride in the writer can +hardly be repressed. She aspired to that inner circle of the faithful, +that aristocracy of devotion, which, while the common herd of Christians +are busied with the duties of life, eschews the visible and the present, +and claims to live only for God. In her strong maternal affection she +saw a lure to divert her from the path of perfect saintship. Love for +her child long withheld her from becoming a nun; but at last, fortified +by her confessor, she left him to his fate, took the vows, and immured +herself with the Ursulines of Tours. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> +boy, frenzied by his desertion, +and urged on by indignant relatives, watched his opportunity, and made +his way into the refectory of the convent, screaming to the horrified +nuns to give him back his mother. As he grew older, her anxiety +increased; and at length she heard in her seclusion that he had fallen +into bad company, had left the relative who had sheltered him, and run +off, no one knew whither. The wretched mother, torn with anguish, +hastened for consolation to her confessor, who met her with stern +upbraidings. Yet, even in this her intensest ordeal, her enthusiasm and +her native fortitude enabled her to maintain a semblance of calmness, +till she learned that the boy had been found and brought back.</p> + +<p id="id00778"> +Strange as it may seem, this woman, whose habitual state was one of +mystical abstraction, was gifted to a rare degree with the faculties most +useful in the practical affairs of life. She had spent several years in +the house of her brother-in-law. Here, on the one hand, her vigils, +visions, and penances set utterly at nought the order of a well-governed +family; while, on the other, she made amends to her impatient relative by +able and efficient aid in the conduct of his public and private affairs. +Her biographers say, and doubtless with truth, that her heart was far +away from these mundane interests; yet her talent for business was not +the less displayed. Her spiritual guides were aware of it, and saw +clearly that gifts so useful to the world might be made equally useful to +the Church. Hence it was that she was chosen Superior +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> +of the convent +which Madame de la Peltrie was about to endow at Quebec. +<a href="#footer_14-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00779" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-14" name="footer_14-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + The combination of religious enthusiasm, however + extravagant and visionary, with a talent for business, + is not very rare. Nearly all the founders of monastic + Orders are examples of it.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00780"> +Yet it was from heaven itself that Marie de l'Incarnation received her +first "vocation" to Canada. The miracle was in this wise.</p> + +<p id="id00781"> +In a dream she beheld a lady unknown to her. She took her hand; and the +two journeyed together westward, towards the sea. They soon met one of +the Apostles, clothed all in white, who, with a wave of his hand, +directed them on their way. They now entered on a scene of surpassing +magnificence. Beneath their feet was a pavement of squares of white +marble, spotted with vermilion, and intersected with lines of vivid +scarlet; and all around stood monasteries of matchless architecture. +But the two travellers, without stopping to admire, moved swiftly on till +they beheld the Virgin seated with her Infant Son on a small temple of +white marble, which served her as a throne. She seemed about fifteen +years of age, and was of a "ravishing beauty." Her head was turned +aside; she was gazing fixedly on a wild waste of mountains and valleys, +half concealed in mist. Marie de l'Incarnation approached with +outstretched arms, adoring. The vision bent towards her, and, smiling, +kissed her three times; whereupon, in a rapture, the dreamer awoke. +<a href="#footer_14-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-15" name="footer_14-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + Marie de l'Incarnation recounts this dream at great length in + her letters; and Casgrain copies the whole, <i>verbatim</i>, + as a revelation from God. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00782"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> +She told the vision to Father Dinet, a Jesuit of Tours. He was at no +loss for an interpretation. The land of mists and mountains was Canada, +and thither the Virgin called her. Yet one mystery remained unsolved. +Who was the unknown companion of her dream? Several years had passed, +and signs from heaven and inward voices had raised to an intense fervor +her zeal for her new vocation, when, for the first time, she saw Madame +de la Peltrie on her visit to the convent at Tours, and recognized, +on the instant, the lady of her nocturnal vision. No one can be +surprised at this who has considered with the slightest attention the +phenomena of religious enthusiasm.</p> + +<p id="id00783"> +On the fourth of May, 1639, Madame de la Peltrie, Marie de l'Incarnation, +Marie de St. Bernard, and another Ursuline, embarked at Dieppe for +Canada. In the ship were also three young hospital nuns, sent out to +found at Quebec a Hôtel-Dieu, endowed by the famous niece of Richelieu, +the Duchesse d'Aiguillon. +<a href="#footer_14-16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +Here, too, were the Jesuits Chaumonot and Poncet, on the +way to their mission, together with Father Vimont, who was to succeed Le +Jeune in his post of Superior. To the nuns, pale from their cloistered +seclusion, there was a strange and startling novelty in this new world of +life and action,—the ship, the sailors, the shouts of command, the +flapping of sails, the salt wind, and the boisterous sea. The voyage was +long and tedious. Sometimes they lay in their berths, sea-sick and +woe-begone; sometimes they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> +sang in choir on deck, or heard mass in the +cabin. Once, on a misty morning, a wild cry of alarm startled crew and +passengers alike. A huge iceberg was drifting close upon them. The +peril was extreme. Madame de la Peltrie clung to Marie de l'Incarnation, +who stood perfectly calm, and gathered her gown about her feet that she +might drown with decency. It is scarcely necessary to say that they were +saved by a vow to the Virgin and St. Joseph. Vimont offered it in behalf +of all the company, and the ship glided into the open sea unharmed.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-16" name="footer_14-16"></a> + <span class="superscript">[16]</span> + Juchereau, <i>Histoire de l'Hôtel-Dieu de + Québec</i>, 4. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00784"> +They arrived at Tadoussac on the fifteenth of July; and the nuns ascended +to Quebec in a small craft deeply laden with salted codfish, on which, +uncooked, they subsisted until the first of August, when they reached +their destination. Cannon roared welcome from the fort and batteries; +all labor ceased; the storehouses were closed; and the zealous Montmagny, +with a train of priests and soldiers, met the new-comers at the landing. +All the nuns fell prostrate, and kissed the sacred soil of Canada. +<a href="#footer_14-17"><span class="superscript">[17]</span></a> +They heard mass at the church, dined at the fort, and presently set forth +to visit the new settlement of Sillery, four miles above Quebec.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00785" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-17" name="footer_14-17"></a> + <span class="superscript">[17]</span> + Juchereau, 14; Le Clerc, II. 33; Ragueneau, <i>Vie + de Catherine de St. Augustin</i>, "Epistre + dédicatoire;" Le Jeune, <i>Relation, 1639</i>, + Chap. II.; Charlevoix, <i>Vie de Marie de + l'Incarnation</i>, 264; "Acte de Reception," + in <i>Les Ursulines de Québec</i>, I. 21. + <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00786"> +Noel Brulart de Sillery, a Knight of Malta, who had once filled the +highest offices under the Queen Marie de Médicis, had now severed his +connection +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> +with his Order, renounced the world, and become a priest. +He devoted his vast revenues—for a dispensation of the Pope had freed +him from his vow of poverty—to the founding of religious establishments. +<a href="#footer_14-18"><span class="superscript">[18]</span></a> +Among other endowments, he had placed an ample fund in the hands +of the Jesuits for the formation of a settlement of Christian Indians at +the spot which still bears his name. On the strand of Sillery, between +the river and the woody heights behind, were clustered the small +log-cabins of a number of Algonquin converts, together with a church, +a mission-house, and an infirmary,—the whole surrounded by a palisade. +It was to this place that the six nuns were now conducted by the Jesuits. +The scene delighted and edified them; and, in the transports of their +zeal, they seized and kissed every female Indian child on whom they could +lay hands, "without minding," says Father Le Jeune, "whether they were +dirty or not." "Love and charity," he adds, "triumphed over every human +consideration." +<a href="#footer_14-19"><span class="superscript">[19]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00787" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-18" name="footer_14-18"></a> + <span class="superscript">[18]</span> + See <i>Vie de l'Illustre Serviteur de Dieu Noel + Brulart de Sillery</i>; also <i>Études et + Recherches Bioqraphiques sur le Chevalier Noel + Brulart de Sillery</i>; and several documents in + Martin's translation of Bressani, Appendix IV. + <br /> + <a id="footer_14-19" name="footer_14-19"></a> + <span class="superscript">[19]</span> + "… sans prendre garde si ces petits enfans + sauvages estoient sales ou non; … la loy + d'amour et de charité l'emportoit par dessus + toutes les considerations humaines."—<i>Relation, + 1639</i>, 26 (Cramoisy).<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00789"> +The nuns of the Hôtel-Dieu soon after took up their abode at Sillery, +whence they removed to a house built for them at Quebec by their +foundress, the Duchesse d'Aiguillon. The Ursulines, in the absence of +better quarters, were lodged at first in a small wooden tenement under +the rock of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> +Quebec, at the brink of the river. Here they were soon beset +with such a host of children, that the floor of their wretched tenement +was covered with beds, and their toil had no respite. Then came the +small-pox, carrying death and terror among the neighboring Indians. +These thronged to Quebec in misery and desperation, begging succor from +the French. The labors both of the Ursulines and of the hospital nuns +were prodigious. In the infected air of their miserable hovels, where +sick and dying savages covered the floor, and were packed one above +another in berths,—amid all that is most distressing and most revolting, +with little food and less sleep, these women passed the rough beginning +of their new life. Several of them fell ill. But the excess of the evil +at length brought relief; for so many of the Indians died in these +pest-houses that the survivors shunned them in horror.</p> + +<p id="id00790"> +But how did these women bear themselves amid toils so arduous? A +pleasant record has come down to us of one of them,—that fair and +delicate girl, Marie de St. Bernard, called, in the convent, Sister +St. Joseph, who had been chosen at Tours as the companion of Marie de +l'Incarnation. Another Ursuline, writing at a period when the severity +of their labors was somewhat relaxed, says, "Her disposition is charming. +In our times of recreation, she often makes us cry with laughing: it +would be hard to be melancholy when she is near." +<a href="#footer_14-20"><span class="superscript">[20]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-20" name="footer_14-20"></a> + <span class="superscript">[20]</span> + <i>Lettre de la Mère S<span class="superscript">te</span> + Claire à une de ses Sœurs Ursulines de + Paris. Québec, 2 Sept., + 1640</i>.—See <i>Les Ursulines de Québec</i>, + I. 38. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00791"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> +It was three years later before the Ursulines and their pupils took +possession of a massive convent of stone, built for them on the site +which they still occupy. Money had failed before the work was done, +and the interior was as unfinished as a barn. +<a href="#footer_14-21"><span class="superscript">[21]</span></a> + Beside the cloister stood a large +ash-tree; and it stands there still. Beneath its shade, says the convent +tradition, Marie de l'Incarnation and her nuns instructed the Indian +children in the truths of salvation; but it might seem rash to affirm +that their teachings were always either wise or useful, since Father +Vimont tells us approvingly, that they reared their pupils in so chaste a +horror of the other sex, that a little girl, whom a man had playfully +taken by the hand, ran crying to a bowl of water to wash off the +unhallowed influence. +<a href="#footer_14-22"><span class="superscript">[22]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-21" name="footer_14-21"></a> + <span class="superscript">[21]</span> + The interior was finished after a year or two, with + cells as usual. There were four chimneys, with + fireplaces burning a hundred and seventy-five cords of + wood in a winter; and though the nuns were boxed up in + beds which closed like chests, Marie de l'Incarnation + complains bitterly of the cold. See her letter of Aug. + 26, 1644. <br /> + <a id="footer_14-22" name="footer_14-22"></a> + <span class="superscript">[22]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1642</i>, 112 (Cramoisy).<br /> +</p> +</div> + + + +<p id="id00792"> +Now and henceforward one figure stands nobly conspicuous in this devoted +sisterhood. Marie de l'Incarnation, no longer lost in the vagaries of an +insane mysticism, but engaged in the duties of Christian charity and the +responsibilities of an arduous post, displays an ability, a fortitude, +and an earnestness which command respect and admiration. Her mental +intoxication had ceased, or recurred only at intervals; and false +excitements no longer sustained her. She was racked with constant +anxieties about her son, and was often in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> +a condition described by her +biographers as a "deprivation of all spiritual consolations." Her +position was a very difficult one. She herself speaks of her life as a +succession of crosses and humiliations. Some of these were due to Madame +de la Peltrie, who, in a freak of enthusiasm, abandoned her Ursulines for +a time, as we shall presently see, leaving them in the utmost +destitution. There were dissensions to be healed among them; and money, +everything, in short, to be provided. Marie de l'Incarnation, in her +saddest moments, neither failed in judgment nor slackened in effort. +She carried on a vast correspondence, embracing every one in France who +could aid her infant community with money or influence; she harmonized +and regulated it with excellent skill; and, in the midst of relentless +austerities, she was loved as a mother by her pupils and dependants. +Catholic writers extol her as a saint. +<a href="#footer_14-23"><span class="superscript">[23]</span></a> +Protestants may see in her a Christian heroine, admirable, with +all her follies and her faults.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00793" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-23" name="footer_14-23"></a> + <span class="superscript">[23]</span> + There is a letter extant from Sister Anne de + S<span class="superscript">te</span> Claire, + an Ursuline who came to Quebec in 1640, + written soon after her arrival, and containing + curious evidence that a reputation of saintship already + attached to Marie de l'Incarnation. "When I spoke to + her," writes Sister Anne, speaking of her first + interview, "I perceived in the air a certain odor of + sanctity, which gave me the sensation of an agreeable perfume." + See the letter in a recent Catholic work, <i>Les Ursulines + de Québec</i>, I. 38, where the passage is printed in + Italics, as worthy the especial attention of the pious + reader.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00794"> +The traditions of the Ursulines are full of the virtues of Madame de la +Peltrie,—her humility, her charity, her penances, and her acts of +mortification. No doubt, with some little allowance, these +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> +traditions +are true; but there is more of reason than of uncharitableness in the +belief, that her zeal would have been less ardent and sustained, if it +had had fewer spectators. She was now fairly committed to the conventual +life, her enthusiasm was kept within prescribed bounds, and she was no +longer mistress of her own movements. On the one hand, she was anxious +to accumulate merits against the Day of Judgment; and, on the other, +she had a keen appreciation of the applause which the sacrifice of her +fortune and her acts of piety had gained for her. Mortal vanity takes +many shapes. Sometimes it arrays itself in silk and jewels; sometimes it +walks in sackcloth, and speaks the language of self-abasement. In the +convent, as in the world, the fair devotee thirsted for admiration. +The halo of saintship glittered in her eyes like a diamond crown, and she +aspired to outshine her sisters in humility. She was as sincere as +Simeon Stylites on his column; and, like him, found encouragement and +comfort in the gazing and wondering eyes below. +<a href="#footer_14-24"><span class="superscript">[24]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_14-24" name="footer_14-24"></a> + <span class="superscript">[24]</span> + Madame de la Peltrie died in her convent in 1671. + Marie de l'Incarnation died the following year. + She had the consolation of knowing that her son + had fulfilled her ardent wishes, and become a + priest. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_15" id="Chapter_15"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00795"><a href="#Contents15">CHAPTER XV.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1636-1642.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00796" class="smcapheader">VILLEMARIE DE MONTREAL.</p> + <p id="id00797" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Dauversiére and the Voice from Heaven • + Abbé Olier • Their Schemes • + The Society of Notre-Dame de Montreal • + Maisonneuve • Devout Ladies • + Mademoiselle Mance • Marguerite + <ins title="Change Bourgeois to Bourgeoys.">Bourgeoys</ins> • + The Montrealists at Quebec • Jealousy • + Quarrels • Romance and Devotion • Embarkation • + Foundation of Montreal + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00799"> +<span class="smcap">We</span> come now to an enterprise as singular in +its character as it proved important in its results.</p> + +<p id="id00800"> +At La Flèche, in Anjou, dwelt one Jérôme le Royer de +la Dauversière, receiver of taxes. His portrait shows us a round, +<i>bourgeois</i> face, somewhat heavy perhaps, decorated with a slight +moustache, and redeemed by bright and earnest eyes. On his head he +wears a black skull-cap; and over his ample shoulders spreads a stiff +white collar, of wide expanse and studious plainness. Though he belonged +to the <i>noblesse</i>, his look is that of a grave burgher, of good +renown and sage deportment. Dauversière was, however, an +enthusiastic devotee, of mystical tendencies, who whipped himself with +a scourge of small chains till his shoulders were one wound, wore a belt +with more +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> +than twelve hundred sharp points, and invented for himself other +torments, which filled his confessor with admiration. +<a href="#footer_15-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +One day, while at his devotions, he heard an inward voice commanding him +to become the founder of a new Order of hospital nuns; and he was further +ordered to establish, on the island called Montreal, in Canada, a +hospital, or Hôtel-Dieu, to be conducted by these nuns. But Montreal was +a wilderness, and the hospital would have no patients. Therefore, +in order to supply them, the island must first be colonized. Dauversière +was greatly perplexed. On the one hand, the voice of Heaven must be +obeyed; on the other, he had a wife, six children, and a very moderate +fortune. +<a href="#footer_15-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + + + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-1" name="footer_15-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Fancamp in Faillon, <i>Vie de M<span class="superscript">lle</span> + Mance. Introduction.</i><br /> + <a id="footer_15-2" name="footer_15-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Faillon, <i>Vie de M<span class="superscript">lle</span> Mance, + Introduction</i>; + Dollier de Casson, <i>Hist. de Montreal</i>, MS.; + <i>Les Véritables Motifs des Messieurs et + Dames de Montreal</i>, 25; Juchereau, 33. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00801"> +Again: there was at Paris a young priest, about twenty-eight years of +age,—Jean Jacques Olier, afterwards widely known as founder of the +Seminary of St. Sulpice. Judged by his engraved portrait, his +countenance, though marked both with energy and intellect, was anything +but prepossessing. Every lineament proclaims the priest. Yet the Abbé +Olier has high titles to esteem. He signalized his piety, it is true, +by the most disgusting exploits of self-mortification; but, at the same +time, he was strenuous in his efforts to reform the people and the +clergy. So zealous was he for good morals, that he drew upon himself the +imputation of a leaning to the heresy of the Jansenists,—a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> +suspicion +strengthened by his opposition to certain priests, who, to secure the +faithful in their allegiance, justified them in lives of licentiousness. +<a href="#footer_15-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +Yet Olier's catholicity was past +attaintment, and in his horror of Jansenists he yielded to the Jesuits +alone.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-3" name="footer_15-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + Faillon, <i>Vie de M. Olier</i>, II. 188. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + + +<p id="id00802"> +He was praying in the ancient church of St. Germain des Prés, when, +like Dauversière, he thought he heard a voice from Heaven, saying +that he was destined to be a light to the Gentiles. It is recorded as a +mystic coincidence attending this miracle, that the choir was at that +very time chanting the words, <i>Lumen ad revelationem Gentium</i>; +<a href="#footer_15-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +and it seems to have occurred neither to Olier nor to his biographer, +that, falling on the ear of the rapt worshipper, they might have +unconsciously suggested the supposed revelation. But there was a further +miracle. An inward voice told Olier that he was to form a society of +priests, and establish them on the island called Montreal, in Canada, +for the propagation of the True Faith; and writers old and recent assert, +that, while both he and Dauversière were totally ignorant of +Canadian geography, they suddenly found themselves in possession, they +knew not how, of the most exact details concerning Montreal, its size, +shape, situation, soil, climate, and productions.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00803" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-4" name="footer_15-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + <i>Mémoires Autographes de M. Olier</i>, + cited by Faillon, in <i>Histoire de la Colonie + Française</i>, I. 384.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00804"> +The annual volumes of the Jesuit <i>Relations</i>, issuing from the renowned +press of Cramoisy, were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> +at this time spread broadcast throughout France; +and, in the circles of <i>haute devotion</i>, Canada and its missions were +everywhere the themes of enthusiastic discussion; while Champlain, +in his published works, had long before pointed out Montreal as the +proper site for a settlement. But we are entering a region of miracle, +and it is superfluous to look far for explanations. The illusion, +in these cases, is a part of the history.</p> + +<p id="id00805"> +Dauversière pondered the revelation he had received; and the more he +pondered, the more was he convinced that it came from God. He therefore +set out for Paris, to find some means of accomplishing the task assigned +him. Here, as he prayed before an image of the Virgin in the church of +Notre-Dame, he fell into an ecstasy, and beheld a vision. "I should be +false to the integrity of history," writes his biographer, "if I did not +relate it here." And he adds, that the reality of this celestial favor +is past doubting, inasmuch as Dauversière himself told it to his +daughters. Christ, the Virgin, and St. Joseph appeared before him. +He saw them distinctly. Then he heard Christ ask three times of his +Virgin Mother, <i>Where can I find a faithful servant?</i> On which, +the Virgin, taking him (Dauversière) by the hand, replied, +<i>See, Lord, here is that faithful servant!</i>—and Christ, +with a benignant smile, received him into his service, promising to +bestow on him wisdom and strength to do his work. +<a href="#footer_15-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +From Paris he went to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> +the neighboring chateau of Meudon, which overlooks +the valley of the Seine, not far from St. Cloud. Entering the gallery +of the old castle, he saw a priest approaching him. It was Olier. +Now we are told that neither of these men had ever seen or heard of +the other; and yet, says the pious historian, "impelled by a kind of +inspiration, they knew each other at once, even to the depths of their +hearts; saluted each other by name, as we read of St. Paul, the Hermit, +and St. Anthony, and of St. Dominic and St. Francis; and ran to embrace +each other, like two friends who had met after a long separation." +<a href="#footer_15-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-5" name="footer_15-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + Faillon, <i>Vie de M<span class="superscript">lle</span> Mance, + Introduction</i>, xxviii. + The Abbé Ferland, in his <i>Histoire du Canada</i>, + passes over the miracles in silence. <br /> + <a id="footer_15-6" name="footer_15-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + Ibid., <i>La Colonie Française</i>, I. 390. +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00806"> +"Monsieur," exclaimed Olier, "I know your design, and I go to commend it +to God at the holy altar."</p> + +<p id="id00807"> +And he went at once to say mass in the chapel. Dauversière received +the communion at his hands; and then they walked for three hours in the park, +discussing their plans. They were of one mind, in respect both to objects +and means; and when they parted, Olier gave Dauversière a hundred +louis, saying, "This is to begin the work of God."</p> + +<p id="id00808"> +They proposed to found at Montreal three religious +communities,—<i>three</i> being the mystic number,—one of +secular priests to direct the colonists and convert the Indians, one +of nuns to nurse the sick, and one of nuns to teach the Faith to the +children, white and red. To borrow their own phrases, they would plant +the banner of Christ in an abode of desolation and a haunt of demons; +and to this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> +end a band of priests and women were to invade the +wilderness, and take post between the fangs of the Iroquois. But +first they must make a colony, and to do so must raise money. +Olier had pious and wealthy penitents; Dauversière had a friend, +the Baron de Fancamp, devout as himself and far richer. Anxious for his +soul, and satisfied that the enterprise was an inspiration of God, +he was eager to bear part in it. Olier soon found three others; and the +six together formed the germ of the Society of Notre-Dame de Montreal. +Among them they raised the sum of seventy-five thousand livres, +equivalent to about as many dollars at the present day. +<a href="#footer_15-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00809" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-7" name="footer_15-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + Dollier de Casson, <i>Histoire de Montreal</i>, MS.; + also Belmont, <i>Histoire du Canada</i>, 2. Juchereau + doubles the sum. Faillon agrees with Dollier.</p> + <p id="id00810"> + On all that relates to the early annals of Montreal + a flood of new light has been thrown by the Abbé + Faillon. As a priest of St. Sulpice, he had ready + access to the archives of the Seminaries of Montreal + and Paris, and to numerous other ecclesiastical + depositories, which would have been closed hopelessly + against a layman and a heretic. It is impossible to + commend too highly the zeal, diligence, exactness, + and extent of his conscientious researches. His + credulity is enormous, and he is completely in + sympathy with the supernaturalists of whom he writes: + in other words, he identifies himself with his theme, + and is indeed a fragment of the seventeenth century, + still extant in the nineteenth. He is minute to + prolixity, and abounds in extracts and citations from the + ancient manuscripts which his labors have unearthed. + In short, the Abbé is a prodigy of patience and + industry; and if he taxes the patience of his readers, + he also rewards it abundantly. Such of his original + authorities as have proved accessible are before me, + including a considerable number of manuscripts. + Among these, that of Dollier de Casson, <i>Histoire de + Montreal</i>, as cited above, is the most important. + The copy in my possession was made from the original + in the Mazarin Library.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + + +<p id="id00811"> +Now to look for a moment at their plan. Their eulogists say, and with +perfect truth, that, from a worldly point of view, it was mere folly. +The partners mutually bound themselves to seek no +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> +return for the money +expended. Their profit was to be reaped in the skies: and, indeed, +there was none to be reaped on earth. The feeble settlement at Quebec +was at this time in danger of utter ruin; for the Iroquois, enraged at +the attacks made on them by Champlain, had begun a fearful course of +retaliation, and the very existence of the colony trembled in the +balance. But if Quebec was exposed to their ferocious inroads, Montreal +was incomparably more so. A settlement here would be a perilous +outpost,—a hand thrust into the jaws of the tiger. It would provoke +attack, and lie almost in the path of the war-parties. The associates +could gain nothing by the fur-trade; for they would not be allowed to +share in it. On the other hand, danger apart, the place was an excellent +one for a mission; for here met two great rivers: the St. Lawrence, +with its countless tributaries, flowed in from the west, while the Ottawa +descended from the north; and Montreal, embraced by their uniting waters, +was the key to a vast inland navigation. Thither the Indians would +naturally resort; and thence the missionaries could make their way into +the heart of a boundless heathendom. None of the ordinary motives of +colonization had part in this design. It owed its conception and its +birth to religious zeal alone.</p> + +<p id="id00812"> +The island of Montreal belonged to Lauson, former president of the great +company of the Hundred Associates; and, as we have seen, his son had a +monopoly of fishing in the St. Lawrence. Dauversière and Fancamp, +after much diplomacy, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> +succeeded in persuading the elder Lauson to +transfer his title to them; and, as there was a defect in it, they also +obtained a grant of the island from the Hundred Associates, its original +owners, who, however, reserved to themselves its western extremity as a +site for a fort and storehouses. +<a href="#footer_15-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +At the same time, the younger Lauson granted them a right of fishery +within two leagues of the shores of the island, for which they were +to make a yearly acknowledgment of ten pounds of fish. A +confirmation of these grants was obtained from the King. +Dauversière and his companions were now <i>seigneurs</i> of Montreal. +They were empowered to appoint a governor, and to establish courts, +from which there was to be an appeal to the Supreme Court of Quebec, +supposing such to exist. They were excluded from the fur-trade, and +forbidden to build castles or forts other than such as were necessary for +defence against the Indians.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00813" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-8" name="footer_15-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + <i>Donation et Transport de la Concession de l'Isle + de Montreal par M. Jean de Lauzon aux Sieurs + Chevrier de Fouancant</i> (Fancamp) <i>et le Royer + de la Doversière</i>, MS.</p> + <p id="id00814"> + <i>Concession d'une Partie de l'Isle de Montreal + accordée par la Compagnie de la Nouvelle + France aux Sieurs Chevrier et le Royer</i>, MS.</p> + <p id="id00815"> + <i>Lettres de Ratification</i>, MS.</p> + <p id="id00816"> + <i>Acte qui prouve que les Sieurs Chevrier de + Fancamps et Royer de la Dauversière n'ont + stipulé qu'au nom de la Compagnie de + Montreal</i>, MS.</p> + <p id="id00817"> + From copies of other documents before me, it + appears that in 1659 the reserved portion of the + island was also ceded to the Company of Montreal. + </p> + <p id="id00818"> + See also <i>Edits, Ordonnances Royaux</i>, etc., + I. 20-26 (Quebec, 1854).<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00819"> +Their title assured, they matured their plan. First they would send out +forty men to take possession of Montreal, intrench themselves, and raise +crops. Then they would build a house for the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> +priests, and two convents +for the nuns. Meanwhile, Olier was toiling at Vaugirard, on the outskirts +of Paris, to inaugurate the seminary of priests, and Dauversière at +La Flèche, to form the community of hospital nuns. How the school +nuns were provided for we shall see hereafter. The colony, it will be +observed, was for the convents, not the convents for the colony.</p> + +<p id="id00820"> +The Associates needed a soldier-governor to take charge of their forty +men; and, directed as they supposed by Providence, they found one wholly +to their mind. This was Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, a devout +and valiant gentleman, who in long service among the heretics of Holland +had kept his faith intact, and had held himself resolutely aloof from the +license that surrounded him. He loved his profession of arms, and wished +to consecrate his sword to the Church. Past all comparison, he is the +manliest figure that appears in this group of zealots. The piety of the +design, the miracles that inspired it, the adventure and the peril, +all combined to charm him; and he eagerly embraced the enterprise. +His father opposed his purpose; but he met him with a text of St. Mark, +"There is no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father +for my sake, but he shall receive an hundred-fold." On this the elder +Maisonneuve, deceived by his own worldliness, imagined that the plan +covered some hidden speculation, from which enormous profits were +expected, and therefore withdrew his opposition. +<a href="#footer_15-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-9" name="footer_15-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + Faillon, <i>La Colonie Française</i>, I. 409.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00821"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> +Their scheme was ripening fast, when both Olier and Dauversière were +assailed by one of those revulsions of spirit, to which saints of the +ecstatic school are naturally liable. Dauversière, in particular, +was a prey to the extremity of dejection, uncertainty, and misgiving. +What had he, a family man, to do with ventures beyond sea? Was it not +his first duty to support his wife and children? Could he not fulfil all +his obligations as a Christian by reclaiming the wicked and relieving the +poor at La Flèche? Plainly, he had doubts that his vocation was genuine. +If we could raise the curtain of his domestic life, perhaps we should +find him beset by wife and daughters, tearful and wrathful, inveighing +against his folly, and imploring him to provide a support for them before +squandering his money to plant a convent of nuns in a wilderness. +How long his fit of dejection lasted does not appear; but at length +<a href="#footer_15-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +he set himself again to his appointed work. Olier, too, emerging from +the clouds and darkness, found faith once more, and again placed himself +at the head of the great enterprise. +<a href="#footer_15-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-10" name="footer_15-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + Faillon, <i>Vie de M<span class="superscript">lle</span> Mance, + Introduction</i>, xxxv.<br /> + <a id="footer_15-11" name="footer_15-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + Faillon (<i>Vie de M. Olier</i>) devotes twenty-one pages + to the history of his fit of nervous depression.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00824"> +There was imperative need of more money; and Dauversière, under +judicious guidance, was active in obtaining it. This miserable victim +of illusions had a squat, uncourtly figure, and was no proficient in the +graces either of manners or of speech: hence his success in commending +his objects to persons +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> +of rank and wealth is set down as one of the many +miracles which attended the birth of Montreal. But zeal and earnestness +are in themselves a power; and the ground had been well marked out and +ploughed for him in advance. That attractive, though intricate, subject +of study, the female mind, has always engaged the attention of priests, +more especially in countries where, as in France, women exert a strong +social and political influence. The art of kindling the flames of zeal, +and the more difficult art of directing and controlling them, have been +themes of reflection the most diligent and profound. Accordingly we find +that a large proportion of the money raised for this enterprise was +contributed by devout ladies. Many of them became members of the +Association of Montreal, which was eventually increased to about +forty-five persons, chosen for their devotion and their wealth.</p> + +<p id="id00825"> +Olier and his associates had resolved, though not from any collapse of +zeal, to postpone the establishment of the seminary and the college until +after a settlement should be formed. The hospital, however, might, +they thought, be begun at once; for blood and blows would be the assured +portion of the first settlers. At least, a discreet woman ought to +embark with the first colonists as their nurse and housekeeper. Scarcely +was the need recognized when it was supplied.</p> + +<p id="id00826"> +Mademoiselle Jeanne Mance was born of an honorable family of +Nogent-le-Roi, and in 1640 was thirty-four years of age. These +Canadian heroines began their religious experiences early. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> +Of Marie +de l'Incarnation we read, that at the age of seven Christ appeared to +her in a vision; +<a href="#footer_15-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +and the biographer of +Mademoiselle Mance assures us, with admiring gravity, that, at the same +tender age, she bound herself to God by a vow of perpetual chastity. +<a href="#footer_15-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +This singular infant in due time +became a woman, of a delicate constitution, and manners graceful, yet +dignified. Though an earnest devotee, she felt no vocation for the +cloister; yet, while still "in the world," she led the life of a nun. +The Jesuit <i>Relations</i>, and the example of Madame de la Peltrie, +of whom she had heard, inoculated her with the Canadian enthusiasm, +then so prevalent; and, under the pretence of visiting relatives, she +made a journey to Paris, to take counsel of certain priests. Of one +thing she was assured: the Divine will called her to Canada, but to +what end she neither knew nor asked to know; for she abandoned herself +as an atom to be borne to unknown destinies on the breath of God. At +Paris, Father St. Jure, a Jesuit, assured her that her vocation to +Canada was, past doubt, a call from Heaven; while Father Rapin, a +Récollet, spread abroad the fame of her virtues, and introduced +her to many ladies of rank, wealth, and zeal. Then, well supplied +with money for any pious work to which she might be summoned, she +journeyed to Rochelle, whence ships were to sail for New France. +Thus far she had been kept in ignorance of the plan with regard to +Montreal; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> +but now Father La Place, a Jesuit, revealed it to her. On +the day after her arrival at Rochelle, as she entered the Church of +the Jesuits, she met Dauversière coming out. "Then," says her +biographer, "these two persons, who had never seen nor heard of each +other, were enlightened supernaturally, whereby their most hidden +thoughts were mutually made known, as had happened already with M. Olier +and this same M. de la Dauversière." +<a href="#footer_15-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> + A long conversation ensued between them; and the +delights of this interview were never effaced from the mind of +Mademoiselle Mance. "She used to speak of it like a seraph," writes one +of her nuns, "and far better than many a learned doctor could have done." +<a href="#footer_15-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-12" name="footer_15-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + Casgrain, <i>Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation</i>, 78.<br /> + <a id="footer_15-13" name="footer_15-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + Faillon, <i>Vie de M<span class="superscript">lle</span> Mance</i>, + I. 3.<br /> + <a id="footer_15-14" name="footer_15-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + Faillon, <i>Vie de M<span class="superscript">lle</span> Mance</i>, + I. 18. + Here again the Abbé Ferland, with his usual + good sense, tacitly rejects the supernaturalism.<br /> + <a id="footer_15-15" name="footer_15-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + La Sœur Morin, <i>Annales des Hospitalières + de Villemarie</i>, MS., cited by Faillon.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00827"> +She had found her destiny. The ocean, the wilderness, the solitude, +the Iroquois,—nothing daunted her. She would go to Montreal with +Maisonneuve and his forty men. Yet, when the vessel was about to sail, +a new and sharp misgiving seized her. How could she, a woman, not yet +bereft of youth or charms, live alone in the forest, among a troop of +soldiers? Her scruples were relieved by two of the men, who, at the last +moment, refused to embark without their wives,—and by a young woman, who, +impelled by enthusiasm, escaped from her friends, and took passage, +in spite of them, in one of the vessels.</p> + +<p id="id00828"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> +All was ready; the ships set sail; but Olier, Dauversière, and Fancamp +remained at home, as did also the other Associates, with the exception of +Maisonneuve and Mademoiselle Mance. In the following February, an +impressive scene took place in the Church of Notre Dame, at Paris. +The Associates, at this time numbering about forty-five, +<a href="#footer_15-16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +with Olier at their +head, assembled before the altar of the Virgin, and, by a solemn +ceremonial, consecrated Montreal to the Holy Family. Henceforth it was +to be called <i>Villemarie de Montreal</i>, +<a href="#footer_15-17"><span class="superscript">[17]</span></a>—a +sacred town, reared to the honor and under the patronage of Christ, St. Joseph, +and the Virgin, to be typified by three persons on earth, founders +respectively of the three destined communities,—Olier, Dauversière, +and a maiden of Troyes, Marguerite Bourgeoys: the seminary to be +consecrated to Christ, the Hôtel-Dieu to St. Joseph, and the college to +the Virgin.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-16" name="footer_15-16"></a> + <span class="superscript">[16]</span> + Dollier de Casson, A.D. 1641-42, MS. + Vimont says thirty five. <br /> + <a id="footer_15-17" name="footer_15-17"></a> + <span class="superscript">[17]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1642</i>, 37. Compare Le Clerc, + <i>Établissement de la Foy</i>, II. 49. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00829"> +But we are anticipating a little; for it was several years as yet before +Marguerite Bourgeoys took an active part in the work of Montreal. +She was the daughter of a respectable tradesman, and was now twenty-two +years of age. Her portrait has come down to us; and her face is a mirror +of frankness, loyalty, and womanly tenderness. Her qualities were those +of good sense, conscientiousness, and a warm heart. She had known no +miracles, ecstasies, or trances; and though afterwards, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> +when her +religious susceptibilities had reached a fuller development, a few such +are recorded of her, yet even the Abbé Faillon, with the best +intentions, can credit her with but a meagre allowance of these celestial +favors. Though in the midst of visionaries, she distrusted the supernatural, +and avowed her belief, that, in His government of the world, God does not +often set aside its ordinary laws. Her religion was of the affections, +and was manifested in an absorbing devotion to duty. She had felt no +vocation to the cloister, but had taken the vow of chastity, and was +attached, as an <i>externe</i>, to the Sisters of the Congregation of +Troyes, who were fevered with eagerness to go to Canada. Marguerite, +however, was content to wait until there was a prospect that she could +do good by going; and it was not till the year 1653, that, renouncing +an inheritance, and giving all she had to the poor, she embarked for the +savage scene of her labors. To this day, in crowded school-rooms of +Montreal and Quebec, fit monuments of her unobtrusive virtue, her +successors instruct the children of the poor, and embalm the pleasant +memory of Marguerite Bourgeoys. In the martial figure of Maisonneuve, +and the fair form of this gentle nun, we find the true heroes of Montreal. +<a href="#footer_15-18"><span class="superscript">[18]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-18" name="footer_15-18"></a> + <span class="superscript">[18]</span> + For Marguerite Bourgeoys, see her life by Faillon.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00830"> +Maisonneuve, with his forty men and four women, reached Quebec too late +to ascend to Montreal that season. They encountered distrust, jealousy, +and opposition. The agents of the Company of the Hundred Associates +looked on them askance; and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> +the Governor of Quebec, Montmagny, saw a +rival governor in Maisonneuve. Every means was used to persuade the +adventurers to abandon their project, and settle at Quebec. Montmagny +called a council of the principal persons of his colony, who gave it as +their opinion that the new-comers had better exchange Montreal for the +Island of Orleans, where they would be in a position to give and receive +succor; while, by persisting in their first design, they would expose +themselves to destruction, and be of use to nobody. +<a href="#footer_15-19"><span class="superscript">[19]</span></a> +Maisonneuve, who was present, expressed his surprise that they should +assume to direct his affairs. "I have not come here," he said, "to +deliberate, but to act. It is my duty and my honor to found a colony +at Montreal; and I would go, if every tree were an Iroquois!" +<a href="#footer_15-20"><span class="superscript">[20]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-19" name="footer_15-19"></a> + <span class="superscript">[19]</span> + Juchereau, 32; Faillon, <i>Colonie Française</i>, + I. 423.<br /> + <a id="footer_15-20" name="footer_15-20"></a> + <span class="superscript">[20]</span> + La Tour, <i>Mémoire de Laval</i>, Liv. VIII; + Belmont, <i>Histoire du Canada</i>, 3.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00831"> +At Quebec there was little ability and no inclination to shelter the new +colonists for the winter; and they would have fared ill, but for the +generosity of M. Puiseaux, who lived not far distant, at a place called +St. Michel. This devout and most hospitable person made room for them +all in his rough, but capacious dwelling. Their neighbors were the +hospital nuns, then living at the mission of Sillery, in a substantial, +but comfortless house of stone; where, amidst destitution, sickness, +and irrepressible disgust at the filth of the savages whom they had in +charge, they were laboring day and night with devoted assiduity. Among +the minor +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> +ills which beset them were the eccentricities of one of their +lay sisters, crazed with religious enthusiasm, who had the care of their +poultry and domestic animals, of which she was accustomed to inquire, +one by one, if they loved God; when, not receiving an immediate answer in +the affirmative, she would instantly put them to death, telling them that +their impiety deserved no better fate. +<a href="#footer_15-21"><span class="superscript">[21]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-21" name="footer_15-21"></a> + <span class="superscript">[21]</span> + Juchereau, 45. A great mortification to these excellent + nuns was the impossibility of keeping their white dresses + clean among their Indian patients, so that they were + forced to dye them with butternut juice. They were the + <i>Hospitalières</i> who had come over in 1639.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00832"> +At St. Michel, Maisonneuve employed his men in building boats to ascend +to Montreal, and in various other labors for the behoof of the future +colony. Thus the winter wore away; but, as celestial minds are not +exempt from ire, Montmagny and Maisonneuve fell into a quarrel. The +twenty-fifth of January was Maisonneuve's <i>fête</i> day; and, as he was +greatly beloved by his followers, they resolved to celebrate the +occasion. Accordingly, an hour and a half before daylight, they made a +general discharge of their muskets and cannon. The sound reached Quebec, +two or three miles distant, startling the Governor from his morning +slumbers; and his indignation was redoubled when he heard it again at +night: for Maisonneuve, pleased at the attachment of his men, had feasted +them and warmed their hearts with a distribution of wine. Montmagny, +jealous of his authority, resented these demonstrations as an infraction +of it, affirming that they had no right to fire their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> +pieces without his +consent; and, arresting the principal offender, one Jean Gory, he put him +in irons. On being released, a few days after, his companions welcomed +him with great rejoicing, and Maisonneuve gave them all a feast. He +himself came in during the festivity, drank the health of the company, +shook hands with the late prisoner, placed him at the head of the table, +and addressed him as follows:—</p> + +<p id="id00833"> +"Jean Gory, you have been put in irons for me: you had the pain, and I +the affront. For that, I add ten crowns to your wages." Then, turning +to the others: "My boys," he said, "though Jean Gory has been misused, +you must not lose heart for that, but drink, all of you, to the health of +the man in irons. When we are once at Montreal, we shall be our own +masters, and can fire our cannon when we please." +<a href="#footer_15-22"><span class="superscript">[22]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-22" name="footer_15-22"></a> + <span class="superscript">[22]</span> + <i>Documents Divers</i>, MSS., now or lately in possession + of G. B. Faribault, Esq.; Ferland, <i>Notes sur les + Registres de N. D. de Québec</i>, 25; Faillon, <i>La + Colonie Française</i>, I. 433.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00834"> +Montmagny was wroth when this was reported to him; and, on the ground +that what had passed was "contrary to the service of the King and the +authority of the Governor," he summoned Gory and six others before him, +and put them separately under oath. Their evidence failed to establish a +case against their commander; but thenceforth there was great coldness +between the powers of Quebec and Montreal.</p> + +<p id="id00835"> +Early in May, Maisonneuve and his followers embarked. They had gained an +unexpected recruit +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> +during the winter, in the person of Madame de la +Peltrie. The piety, the novelty, and the romance of their enterprise, +all had their charms for the fair enthusiast; and an irresistible +impulse—imputed by a slandering historian to the levity of her sex +<a href="#footer_15-23"><span class="superscript">[23]</span></a>—urged +her to share their +fortunes. Her zeal was more admired by the Montrealists whom she joined +than by the Ursulines whom she abandoned. She carried off all the +furniture she had lent them, and left them in the utmost destitution. +<a href="#footer_15-24"><span class="superscript">[24]</span></a> +Nor did she remain quiet after reaching Montreal, +but was presently seized with a longing to visit the Hurons, and preach +the Faith in person to those benighted heathen. It needed all the +eloquence of a Jesuit, lately returned from that most arduous mission, +to convince her that the attempt would be as useless as rash. +<a href="#footer_15-25"><span class="superscript">[25]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-23" name="footer_15-23"></a> + <span class="superscript">[23]</span> + La Tour, <i>Mémoire de Laval</i>, Liv. VIII.<br /> + <a id="footer_15-24" name="footer_15-24"></a> + <span class="superscript">[24]</span> + Charlevoix, <i>Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation</i>, 279; + Casgrain, <i>Vie de Marie de l'Incarnation</i>, 333.<br /> + <a id="footer_15-25" name="footer_15-25"></a> + <span class="superscript">[25]</span> + St. Thomas, <i>Life of Madame de la Peltrie</i>, 98. +</p> +</div> + + + +<p id="id00836"> +It was the eighth of May when Maisonneuve and his followers embarked at +St. Michel; and as the boats, deep-laden with men, arms, and stores, +moved slowly on their way, the forest, with leaves just opening in the +warmth of spring, lay on their right hand and on their left, in a +flattering semblance of tranquillity and peace. But behind woody islets, +in tangled thickets and damp ravines, and in the shade and stillness of +the columned woods, lurked everywhere a danger and a terror.</p> + +<p id="id00837"> +What shall we say of these adventurers of Montreal,—of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> +these who +bestowed their wealth, and, far more, of these who sacrificed their peace +and risked their lives, on an enterprise at once so romantic and so +devout? Surrounded as they were with illusions, false lights, and false +shadows,—breathing an atmosphere of miracle,—compassed about with +angels and devils,—urged with stimulants most powerful, though +unreal,—their minds drugged, as it were, to preternatural +excitement,—it is very difficult to judge of them. High merit, without +doubt, there was in some of their number; but one may beg to be spared the +attempt to measure or define it. To estimate a virtue involved in +conditions so anomalous demands, perhaps, a judgment more than human.</p> + +<p id="id00838"> +The Roman Church, sunk in disease and corruption when the Reformation +began, was roused by that fierce trumpet-blast to purge and brace herself +anew. Unable to advance, she drew back to the fresher and comparatively +purer life of the past; and the fervors of mediæval Christianity were +renewed in the sixteenth century. In many of its aspects, this +enterprise of Montreal belonged to the time of the first Crusades. +The spirit of Godfrey de Bouillon lived again in Chomedey de Maisonneuve; +and in Marguerite Bourgeoys was realized that fair ideal of Christian +womanhood, a flower of Earth expanding in the rays of Heaven, which +soothed with gentle influence the wildness of a barbarous age.</p> + +<p id="id00839"> +On the seventeenth of May, 1642, Maisonneuve's little flotilla—a pinnace, +a flat-bottomed craft moved +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> +by sails, and two row-boats +<a href="#footer_15-26"><span class="superscript">[26]</span></a>—approached +Montreal; and all on board raised in unison a hymn of praise. +Montmagny was with them, to deliver the +island, in behalf of the Company of the Hundred Associates, to +Maisonneuve, representative of the Associates of Montreal. +<a href="#footer_15-27"><span class="superscript">[27]</span></a> +And here, too, was Father Vimont, Superior of the +missions; for the Jesuits had been prudently invited to accept the +spiritual charge of the young colony. On the following day, they glided +along the green and solitary shores now thronged with the life of a busy +city, and landed on the spot which Champlain, thirty-one years before, +had chosen as the fit site of a settlement. +<a href="#footer_15-28"><span class="superscript">[28]</span></a> + It was a tongue or triangle of +land, formed by the junction of a rivulet with the St. Lawrence, and +known afterwards as Point Callière. The rivulet was bordered by a meadow, +and beyond rose the forest with its vanguard of scattered trees. Early +spring flowers were blooming in the young grass, and birds of varied +plumage flitted among the boughs. +<a href="#footer_15-29"><span class="superscript">[29]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-26" name="footer_15-26"></a> + <span class="superscript">[26]</span> + Dollier de Casson, A.D. 1641-42, MS.<br /> + <a id="footer_15-27" name="footer_15-27"></a> + <span class="superscript">[27]</span> + Le Clerc, II. 50, 51.<br /> + <a id="footer_15-28" name="footer_15-28"></a> + <span class="superscript">[28]</span> + "Pioneers of France," 333. It was the <i>Place Royale</i> + of Champlain.<br /> + <a id="footer_15-29" name="footer_15-29"></a> + <span class="superscript">[29]</span> + Dollier de Casson, A.D. 1641-42, MS.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00840"> +Maisonneuve sprang ashore, and fell on his knees. His followers imitated +his example; and all joined their voices in enthusiastic songs of +thanksgiving. Tents, baggage, arms, and stores were landed. An altar +was raised on a pleasant spot near at hand; and Mademoiselle Mance, +with Madame de la Peltrie, aided by her servant, Charlotte Barré, +decorated it with a taste which was the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> +admiration of the beholders. +<a href="#footer_15-30"><span class="superscript">[30]</span></a> +Now all the company gathered +before the shrine. Here stood Vimont, in the rich vestments of his +office. Here were the two ladies, with their servant; Montmagny, no very +willing spectator; and Maisonneuve, a warlike figure, erect and tall, +his men clustering around him,—soldiers, sailors, artisans, and +laborers,—all alike soldiers at need. They kneeled in reverent silence +as the Host was raised aloft; and when the rite was over, the priest +turned and addressed them:—</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-30" name="footer_15-30"></a> + <span class="superscript">[30]</span> + Morin, <i>Annales</i>, MS., cited by Faillon, <i>La + Colonie Française</i>, I. 440; also Dollier de + Casson, A.D. 1641-42, MS.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00841"> +"You are a grain of mustard-seed, that shall rise and grow till its +branches overshadow the earth. You are few, but your work is the work of +God. His smile is on you, and your children shall fill the Land." +<a href="#footer_15-31"><span class="superscript">[31]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-31" name="footer_15-31"></a> + <span class="superscript">[31]</span> + Dollier de Casson, MS., <i>as above</i>. + Vimont, in the <i>Relation</i> of 1642, p. 37, + briefly mentions the ceremony.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00842"> +The afternoon waned; the sun sank behind the western forest, and twilight +came on. Fireflies were twinkling over the darkened meadow. They caught +them, tied them with threads into shining festoons, and hung them before +the altar, where the Host remained exposed. Then they pitched their +tents, lighted their bivouac fires, stationed their guards, and lay down +to rest. Such was the birth-night of Montreal. +<a href="#footer_15-32"><span class="superscript">[32]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00843" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_15-32" name="footer_15-32"></a> + <span class="superscript">[32]</span> + The Associates of Montreal published, in 1643, a thick + pamphlet in quarto, entitled <i>Les Véritables + Motifs de Messieurs et Dames de la Société + de Notre-Dame de Montréal, pour la Conversion des + Sauvages de la Nouvelle France</i>. It was written as an + answer to aspersions cast upon them, apparently by persons + attached to the great Company of New France known as the + "Hundred Associates," and affords a curious exposition of + the spirit of their enterprise. It is excessively rare; + but copies of the essential portions are before me. The + following is a characteristic extract:—</p> + <p id="id00844"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> + "Vous dites que l'entreprise de Montréal est + d'une dépense infinie, plus convenable à un + roi qu'à quelques particuliers, trop faibles pour la + soutenir; & vous alléguez encore les périls + de la navigation & les naufrages qui peuvent la ruiner. + Vous avez mieux rencontré que vous ne pensiez, en + disant que c'est une œuvre de roi, puisque le Roi des rois + s'en mêle, lui à qui obéissent la mer + & les vents. Nous ne craignons donc pas les naufrages; + il n'en suscitera que lorsque nous en aurons besoin, & + qu'il sera plus expédient pour sa gloire, que nous + cherchons uniquement. Comment avez-vous pu mettre dans + votre esprit qu'appuyés de nos propres forces, nous + eussions présumé de penser à un si + glorieux dessein? Si Dieu n'est point dans l'affaire de + Montréal, si c'est une invention humaine, ne vous en + mettez point en peine, elle ne durera guère. Ce que + vous prédisez arrivera, & quelque chose de pire + encore; mais si Dieu l'a ainsi voulu, qui êtes-vous + pour lui contredire? C'était la reflexion que le + docteur Gamaliel faisait aux Juifs, en faveur des + Apôtres; pour vous, qui ne pouvez ni croire, ni faire, + laissez les autres en liberté de faire ce qu'ils + croient que Dieu demande d'eux. Vous assurez qu'il ne se + fait plus de miracles; mais qui vous l'a dit? où cela + est-il écrit? Jésus-Christ assure, au contraire, + <i>que ceux qui auront autant de Foi qu'un grain de + senevé, feront, en son nom, des miracles + plus grands que ceux qu'il a faits lui-même</i>. + Depuis quand êtes-vous les directeurs des operations + divines, pour les réduire à certains temps & + dans la conduite ordinaire? Tant de saints mouvements, + d'inspirations & de vues intérieures, qu'il lui + plaît de donner à quelques âmes dont il se + sert pour l'avancement de cette œuvre, sont des marques + de son bon plaisir. Jusqu'-ici, il a pourvu au nécessaire; + nous ne voulons point d'abondance, & nous espérons + que sa Providence continuera." <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00845"> + Is this true history, or a romance of Christian chivalry? It is both. +</p> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_16" id="Chapter_16"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00846"><a href="#Contents16">CHAPTER XVI.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1641-1644.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00847" class="smcapheader">ISAAC JOGUES.</p> + <p id="id00848" class="noindent space-bottom"> + The Iroquois War • Jogues • + His Capture • His Journey to the Mohawks • + Lake George • The Mohawk Towns • + The Missionary Tortured • Death of Goupil • + Misery of Jogues • The Mohawk "Babylon" • + Fort Orange • Escape of Jogues • + Manhattan • The Voyage to France • + Jogues among his Brethren • He returns to Canada + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00850"> +<span class="smcap">The</span> waters of the St. Lawrence rolled through +a virgin wilderness, where, in the vastness of the lonely woodlands, +civilized man found a precarious harborage at three points only,—at +Quebec, at Montreal, and at Three Rivers. Here and in the scattered +missions was the whole of New France,—a population of some three +hundred souls in all. And now, over these miserable settlements, rose +a war-cloud of frightful portent.</p> + +<p id="id00851"> +It was thirty-two years since Champlain had first attacked the Iroquois. +<a href="#footer_16-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +They had nursed their wrath for more +than a generation, and at length their hour was come. The Dutch traders +at Fort Orange, now Albany, had supplied them +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> +with fire-arms. The +Mohawks, the most easterly of the Iroquois nations, had, among their +seven or eight hundred warriors, no less than three hundred armed with +the arquebuse, a weapon somewhat like the modern carbine. +<a href="#footer_16-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +They were masters of the thunderbolts which, in the hands of Champlain, +had struck terror into their hearts.</p> + + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00852" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-1" name="footer_16-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + See "Pioneers of France," 318.<br /> + <a id="footer_16-2" name="footer_16-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1643</i>, 62. The Mohawks were the + Agniés, or Agneronons, of the old French writers.</p> + <p id="id00853"> + According to the <i>Journal of New Netherland</i>, a contemporary + Dutch document, (see <i>Colonial Documents of New York</i>, I. + 179,) the Dutch at Fort Orange had supplied the Mohawks with + four hundred guns; the profits of the trade, which was free + to the settlers, blinding them to the danger. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00854"> +We have surveyed in the introductory chapter the character and +organization of this ferocious people; their confederacy of five nations, +bound together by a peculiar tie of clanship; their chiefs, half +hereditary, half elective; their government, an oligarchy in form and a +democracy in spirit; their minds, thoroughly savage, yet marked here and +there with traits of a vigorous development. The war which they had long +waged with the Hurons was carried on by the Senecas and the other Western +nations of their league; while the conduct of hostilities against the +French and their Indian allies in Lower Canada was left to the Mohawks. +In parties of from ten to a hundred or more, they would leave their towns +on the River Mohawk, descend Lake Champlain and the River Richelieu, +lie in ambush on the banks of the St. Lawrence, and attack the passing +boats or canoes. Sometimes they hovered about the fortifications of +Quebec and Three Rivers, killing stragglers, or luring +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> +armed parties into +ambuscades. They followed like hounds on the trail of travellers and +hunters; broke in upon unguarded camps at midnight; and lay in wait, +for days and weeks, to intercept the Huron traders on their yearly +descent to Quebec. Had they joined to their ferocious courage the +discipline and the military knowledge that belong to civilization, +they could easily have blotted out New France from the map, and made the +banks of the St. Lawrence once more a solitude; but, though the most +formidable of savages, they were savages only.</p> + +<p id="id00855">In the early morning of the second of August, 1642, +<a href="#footer_16-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +twelve Huron canoes were +moving slowly along the northern shore of the expansion of the +St. Lawrence known as the Lake of St. Peter. There were on board about +forty persons, including four Frenchmen, one of them being the Jesuit, +Isaac Jogues, whom we have already followed on his missionary journey to +the towns of the Tobacco Nation. In the interval he had not been idle. +During the last autumn, (1641,) he, with Father Charles Raymbault, +had passed along the shore of Lake Huron northward, entered the strait +through which Lake Superior discharges itself, pushed on as far as the +Sault Sainte Marie, and preached the Faith to two thousand Ojibwas, +and other Algonquins there assembled. +<a href="#footer_16-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +He was now on his return from a far more perilous errand. +The Huron mission was in a state of destitution. There was need +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> +of clothing for the priests, of vessels for the altars, of bread and wine +for the eucharist, of writing materials,—in short, of everything; and, +early in the summer of the present year, Jogues had descended to Three +Rivers and Quebec with the Huron traders, to procure the necessary +supplies. He had accomplished his task, and was on his way back to the +mission. With him were a few Huron converts, and among them a noted +Christian chief, Eustache Ahatsistari. Others of the party were in +course of instruction for baptism; but the greater part were heathen, +whose canoes were deeply laden with the proceeds of their bargains with +the French fur-traders.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-3" name="footer_16-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + For the date, see Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, + 1647</i>, 18.<br /> + <a id="footer_16-4" name="footer_16-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1642</i>, 97.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00856"> +Jogues sat in one of the leading canoes. He was born at Orleans in 1607, +and was thirty-five years of age. His oval face and the delicate mould +of his features indicated a modest, thoughtful, and refined nature. +He was constitutionally timid, with a sensitive conscience and great +religious susceptibilities. He was a finished scholar, and might have +gained a literary reputation; but he had chosen another career, and one +for which he seemed but ill fitted. Physically, however, he was well +matched with his work; for, though his frame was slight, he was so active, +that none of the Indians could surpass him in running. +<a href="#footer_16-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00857" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-5" name="footer_16-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + Buteux, <i>Narré de la Prise du Père Jogues</i>, + MS.; <i>Mémoire touchant le Père Jogues</i>, + MS.</p> + <p id="id00858"> + There is a portrait of him prefixed to Mr. Shea's admirable + edition in quarto of Jogues's <i>Novum Belgium.</i><br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00859"> +With him were two young men, René Goupil and Guillaume Couture, +<i>donnés</i> of the mission,—that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> +is to say, laymen who, +from a religious motive and without pay, had attached themselves to the +service of the Jesuits. Goupil had formerly entered upon the Jesuit +novitiate at Paris, but failing health had obliged him to leave it. +As soon as he was able, he came to Canada, offered his services to the +Superior of the mission, was employed for a time in the humblest offices, +and afterwards became an attendant at the hospital. At length, to his +delight, he received permission to go up to the Hurons, where the surgical +skill which he had acquired was greatly needed; and he was now on his way +thither. +<a href="#footer_16-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +His companion, Couture, was a man of intelligence and vigor, and of a +character equally disinterested. +<a href="#footer_16-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +Both were, like Jogues, in the foremost canoes; while the fourth +Frenchman was with the unconverted Hurons, in the rear.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-6" name="footer_16-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + Jogues, <i>Notice sur René Goupil</i>.<br /> + <a id="footer_16-7" name="footer_16-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + For an account of him, see Ferland, <i>Notes sur les + Registres de N. D. de Québec</i>, 83 (1863).<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00860"> +The twelve canoes had reached the western end of the Lake of St. Peter, +where it is filled with innumerable islands. +<a href="#footer_16-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +The forest was close on their right, they kept near the shore to avoid +the current, and the shallow water before them was covered with a dense +growth of tall bulrushes. Suddenly the silence was frightfully broken. +The war-whoop rose from among the rushes, mingled with the reports of +guns and the whistling of bullets; and several Iroquois canoes, filled +with warriors, pushed out from their concealment, and bore down upon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> +Jogues and his companions. The Hurons in the rear were seized with a +shameful panic. They leaped ashore; left canoes, baggage, and weapons; +and fled into the woods. The French and the Christian Hurons made fight +for a time; but when they saw another fleet of canoes approaching from +the opposite shores or islands, they lost heart, and those escaped who +could. Goupil was seized amid triumphant yells, as were also several of +the Huron converts. Jogues sprang into the bulrushes, and might have +escaped; but when he saw Goupil and the neophytes in the clutches of the +Iroquois, he had no heart to abandon them, but came out from his +hiding-place, and gave himself up to the astonished victors. A few of +them had remained to guard the prisoners; the rest were chasing the +fugitives. Jogues mastered his agony, and began to baptize those of the +captive converts who needed baptism.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-8" name="footer_16-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + Buteux, <i>Narré de le Prise du Père Jogues</i>, + MS. This document leaves no doubt as to the locality. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00861"> +Couture had eluded pursuit; but when he thought of Jogues and of what +perhaps awaited him, he resolved to share his fate, and, turning, +retraced his steps. As he approached, five Iroquois ran forward to meet +him; and one of them snapped his gun at his breast, but it missed fire. +In his confusion and excitement, Couture fired his own piece, and laid +the savage dead. The remaining four sprang upon him, stripped off all +his clothing, tore away his finger-nails with their teeth, gnawed his +fingers with the fury of famished dogs, and thrust a sword through one of +his hands. Jogues broke from his guards, and, rushing to his friend, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> +threw his arms about his neck. The Iroquois dragged him away, beat him +with their fists and war-clubs till he was senseless, and, when he +revived, lacerated his fingers with their teeth, as they had done those +of Couture. Then they turned upon Goupil, and treated him with the same +ferocity. The Huron prisoners were left for the present unharmed. +More of them were brought in every moment, till at length the number of +captives amounted in all to twenty-two, while three Hurons had been +killed in the fight and pursuit. The Iroquois, about seventy in number, +now embarked with their prey; but not until they had knocked on the head +an old Huron, whom Jogues, with his mangled hands, had just baptized, +and who refused to leave the place. Then, under a burning sun, they +crossed to the spot on which the town of Sorel now stands, at the +mouth of the river Richelieu, where they encamped. +<a href="#footer_16-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00862" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-9" name="footer_16-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + The above, with much of what follows, rests on three documents. + The first is a long letter, written in Latin, by Jogues, to the Father + Provincial at Paris. It is dated at Rensselaerswyck (Albany), Aug. 5, + 1643, and is preserved in the <i>Societas Jesu Militans</i> of Tanner, + and in the <i>Mortes Illustres et Gesta eorum de Societate Jesu</i>, + etc., of Alegambe. There is a French translation in Martin's Bressani, + and an English translation, by Mr. Shea, in the <i>New York Hist. + Coll.</i> of 1857. The second document is an old manuscript, entitled + <i>Narré de la Prise du Père Jogues</i>. It was written + by the Jesuit Buteux, from the lips of Jogues. Father Martin, S.J., in + whose custody it was, kindly permitted me to have a copy made from it. + Besides these, there is a long account in the <i>Relation des Hurons</i> + of 1647, and a briefer one in that of 1644. All these narratives show + the strongest internal evidence of truth, and are perfectly concurrent. + They are also supported by statements of escaped Huron prisoners, and + by several letters and memoirs of the Dutch at Rensselaerswyck. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00863"> +Their course was southward, up the River Richelieu and Lake Champlain; +thence, by way of Lake +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span> +George, to the Mohawk towns. The pain and fever +of their wounds, and the clouds of mosquitoes, which they could not drive +off, left the prisoners no peace by day nor sleep by night. On the +eighth day, they learned that a large Iroquois war-party, on their way to +Canada, were near at hand; and they soon approached their camp, on a +small island near the southern end of Lake Champlain. The warriors, +two hundred in number, saluted their victorious countrymen with volleys +from their guns; then, armed with clubs and thorny sticks, ranged +themselves in two lines, between which the captives were compelled to +pass up the side of a rocky hill. On the way, they were beaten with such +fury, that Jogues, who was last in the line, fell powerless, drenched in +blood and half dead. As the chief man among the French captives, he +fared the worst. His hands were again mangled, and fire applied to his +body; while the Huron chief, Eustache, was subjected to tortures even +more atrocious. When, at night, the exhausted sufferers tried to rest, +the young warriors came to lacerate their wounds and pull out their hair +and beards.</p> + +<p id="id00864"> +In the morning they resumed their journey. And now the lake narrowed to +the semblance of a tranquil river. Before them was a woody mountain, +close on their right a rocky promontory, and between these flowed a +stream, the outlet of Lake George. On those rocks, more than a hundred +years after, rose the ramparts of Ticonderoga. They landed, shouldered +their canoes and baggage, took their way through the woods, passed the +spot where +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> +the fierce Highlanders and the dauntless regiments of England +breasted in vain the storm of lead and fire, and soon reached the shore +where Abercrombie landed and Lord Howe fell. First of white men, Jogues +and his companions gazed on the romantic lake that bears the name, +not of its gentle discoverer, but of the dull Hanoverian king. Like a +fair Naiad of the wilderness, it slumbered between the guardian mountains +that breathe from crag and forest the stern poetry of war. But all then +was solitude; and the clang of trumpets, the roar of cannon, and the +deadly crack of the rifle had never as yet awakened their angry echoes. +<a href="#footer_16-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00865" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-10" name="footer_16-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + Lake George, according to Jogues, was called by the Mohawks + "Andiatarocte," or <i>Place where the Lake closes</i>. + "Andiataraque" is found on a map of Sanson. Spofford, + <i>Gazetteer of New York</i>, article "Lake George," says + that it was called "Canideri-oit," or <i>Tail of the Lake</i>. + Father Martin, in his notes on Bressani, prefixes to this + name that of "Horicon," but gives no original authority.</p> + <p id="id00866"> + I have seen an old Latin map on which the name "Horiconi" is + set down as belonging to a neighboring tribe. This seems to + be only a misprint for "Horicoui," that is, "Irocoui," or + "Iroquois." In an old English map, prefixed to the rare tract, + <i>A Treatise of New England</i>, the "Lake of Hierocoyes" is laid + down. The name "Horicon," as used by Cooper in his + <i>Last of the Mohicans</i>, seems to have no sufficient historical + foundation. In 1646, the lake, as we shall see, was named + "Lac St. Sacrement." <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00867"> +Again the canoes were launched, and the wild flotilla glided on its +way,—now in the shadow of the heights, now on the broad expanse, now +among the devious channels of the narrows, beset with woody islets, +where the hot air was redolent of the pine, the spruce, and the +cedar,—till they neared that tragic shore, where, in the following +century, New-England rustics baffled the soldiers of Dieskau, where +Montcalm planted his batteries, where the red cross waved so long amid +the smoke, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> +where at length the summer night was hideous with carnage, +and an honored name was stained with a memory of blood. +<a href="#footer_16-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00868" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-11" name="footer_16-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + The allusion is, of course, to the siege of Fort William Henry + in 1757, and the ensuing massacre by Montcalm's Indians. + Charlevoix, with his usual carelessness, says that Jogues's + captors took a circuitous route to avoid enemies. In truth, + however, they were not in the slightest danger of meeting any; + and they followed the route which, before the present + century, was the great highway between Canada and New Holland, + or New York. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00869"> +The Iroquois landed at or near the future site of Fort William Henry, +left their canoes, and, with their prisoners, began their march for the +nearest Mohawk town. Each bore his share of the plunder. Even Jogues, +though his lacerated hands were in a frightful condition and his body +covered with bruises, was forced to stagger on with the rest under a +heavy load. He with his fellow-prisoners, and indeed the whole party, +were half starved, subsisting chiefly on wild berries. They crossed the +upper Hudson, and, in thirteen days after leaving the St. Lawrence, +neared the wretched goal of their pilgrimage, a palisaded town, standing +on a hill by the banks of the River Mohawk.</p> + +<p id="id00870"> +The whoops of the victors announced their approach, and the savage hive +sent forth its swarms. They thronged the side of the hill, the old and +the young, each with a stick, or a slender iron rod, bought from the +Dutchmen on the Hudson. They ranged themselves in a double line, +reaching upward to the entrance of the town; and through this "narrow +road of Paradise," as Jogues calls it, the captives were led in single +file, Couture in front, after him a half-score of Hurons, then Goupil, +then +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span> +the remaining Hurons, and at last Jogues. As they passed, they were +saluted with yells, screeches, and a tempest of blows. One, heavier than +the others, knocked Jogues's breath from his body, and stretched him on +the ground; but it was death to lie there, and, regaining his feet, +he staggered on with the rest. +<a href="#footer_16-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +When they reached the town, the blows ceased, +and they were all placed on a scaffold, or high platform, in the middle +of the place. The three Frenchmen had fared the worst, and were +frightfully disfigured. Goupil, especially, was streaming with blood, +and livid with bruises from head to foot.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-12" name="footer_16-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + This practice of forcing prisoners to "run the gauntlet" + was by no means peculiar to the Iroquois, but was common + to many tribes. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00871"> +They were allowed a few minutes to recover their breath, undisturbed, +except by the hootings and gibes of the mob below. Then a chief called +out, "Come, let us caress these Frenchmen!"—and the crowd, knife in hand, +began to mount the scaffold. They ordered a Christian Algonquin woman, +a prisoner among them, to cut off Jogues's left thumb, which she did; and +a thumb of Goupil was also severed, a clam-shell being used as the +instrument, in order to increase the pain. It is needless to specify +further the tortures to which they were subjected, all designed to cause +the greatest possible suffering without endangering life. At night, +they were removed from the scaffold, and placed in one of the houses, +each stretched on his back, with his limbs extended, and his ankles and +wrists bound fast to stakes driven into the earthen +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> +floor. The children +now profited by the examples of their parents, and amused themselves by +placing live coals and red-hot ashes on the naked bodies of the prisoners, +who, bound fast, and covered with wounds and bruises which made every +movement a torture, were sometimes unable to shake them off.</p> + +<p id="id00872"> +In the morning, they were again placed on the scaffold, where, during +this and the two following days, they remained exposed to the taunts of +the crowd. Then they were led in triumph to the second Mohawk town, +and afterwards to the third, +<a href="#footer_16-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +suffering at each a repetition of cruelties, the detail of +which would be as monotonous as revolting.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00873" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-13" name="footer_16-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + The Mohawks had but three towns. The first, and the lowest on + the river, was Osseruenon; the second, two miles above, was + Andagaron; and the third, Teonontogen: or, as Megapolensis, in + his <i>Sketch of the Mohawks</i>, writes the names, + Asserué, Banagiro, and Thenondiogo. They all seem to + have been fortified in the Iroquois manner, and their united + population was thirty-five hundred, or somewhat more. At a + later period, 1720, there were still three towns, named + respectively Teahtontaioga, Ganowauga, and Ganeganaga. See + the map in Morgan, <i>League of the Iroquois</i>.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00874"> +In a house in the town of Teonontogen, Jogues was hung by the wrists +between two of the upright poles which supported the structure, in such a +manner that his feet could not touch the ground; and thus he remained for +some fifteen minutes, in extreme torture, until, as he was on the point +of swooning, an Indian, with an impulse of pity, cut the cords and +released him. While they were in this town, four fresh Huron prisoners, +just taken, were brought in, and placed on the scaffold with the rest. +Jogues, in the midst of his pain and exhaustion, took the opportunity to +convert them. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> +An ear of green corn was thrown to him for food, and he +discovered a few rain-drops clinging to the husks. With these he +baptized two of the Hurons. The remaining two received baptism soon +after from a brook which the prisoners crossed on the way to another town.</p> + +<p id="id00875"> +Couture, though he had incensed the Indians by killing one of their +warriors, had gained their admiration by his bravery; and, after +torturing him most savagely, they adopted him into one of their families, +in place of a dead relative. Thenceforth he was comparatively safe. +Jogues and Goupil were less fortunate. Three of the Hurons had been +burned to death, and they expected to share their fate. A council was +held to pronounce their doom; but dissensions arose, and no result was +reached. They were led back to the first village, where they remained, +racked with suspense and half dead with exhaustion. Jogues, however, +lost no opportunity to baptize dying infants, while Goupil taught +children to make the sign of the cross. On one occasion, he made the +sign on the forehead of a child, grandson of an Indian in whose lodge +they lived. The superstition of the old savage was aroused. Some +Dutchmen had told him that the sign of the cross came from the Devil, +and would cause mischief. He thought that Goupil was bewitching the +child; and, resolving to rid himself of so dangerous a guest, applied for +aid to two young braves. Jogues and Goupil, clad in their squalid garb +of tattered skins, were soon after walking together in the forest that +adjoined the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> +town, consoling themselves with prayer, and mutually +exhorting each other to suffer patiently for the sake of Christ and the +Virgin, when, as they were returning, reciting their rosaries, they met +the two young Indians, and read in their sullen visages an augury of ill. +The Indians joined them, and accompanied them to the entrance of the town, +where one of the two, suddenly drawing a hatchet from beneath his blanket, +struck it into the head of Goupil, who fell, murmuring the name of +Christ. Jogues dropped on his knees, and, bowing his head in prayer, +awaited the blow, when the murderer ordered him to get up and go home. +He obeyed but not until he had given absolution to his still breathing +friend, and presently saw the lifeless body dragged through the town amid +hootings and rejoicings.</p> + +<p id="id00876"> +Jogues passed a night of anguish and desolation, and in the morning, +reckless of life, set forth in search of Goupil's remains. "Where are +you going so fast?" demanded the old Indian, his master. "Do you not see +those fierce young braves, who are watching to kill you?" Jogues +persisted, and the old man asked another Indian to go with him as a +protector. The corpse had been flung into a neighboring ravine, at the +bottom of which ran a torrent; and here, with the Indian's help, Jogues +found it, stripped naked, and gnawed by dogs. He dragged it into the +water, and covered it with stones to save it from further mutilation, +resolving to return alone on the following day and secretly bury it. +But with the night there came +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> +a storm; and when, in the gray of the +morning, Jogues descended to the brink of the stream, he found it a +rolling, turbid flood, and the body was nowhere to be seen. Had the +Indians or the torrent borne it away? Jogues waded into the cold +current; it was the first of October; he sounded it with his feet and +with his stick; he searched the rocks, the thicket, the forest; but all +in vain. Then, crouched by the pitiless stream, he mingled his tears +with its waters, and, in a voice broken with groans, chanted the service +of the dead. +<a href="#footer_16-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-14" name="footer_16-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + Jogues in Tanner, <i>Societas Militans</i>, 519; Bressani, + 216; Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1647</i>, 25, 26; Buteux, + <i>Narré</i>, MS.; Jogues, <i>Notice sur René + Goupil</i>. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + + +<p id="id00877"> +The Indians, it proved, and not the flood, had robbed him of the remains +of his friend. Early in the spring, when the snows were melting in the +woods, he was told by Mohawk children that the body was lying, where it +had been flung, in a lonely spot lower down the stream. He went to seek +it; found the scattered bones, stripped by the foxes and the birds; and, +tenderly gathering them up, hid them in a hollow tree, hoping that a day +might come when he could give them a Christian burial in consecrated +ground.</p> + +<p id="id00878"> +After the murder of Goupil, Jogues's life hung by a hair. He lived in +hourly expectation of the tomahawk, and would have welcomed it as a boon. +By signs and words, he was warned that his hour was near; but, as he +never shunned his fate, it fled from him, and each day, with renewed +astonishment, he found himself still among the living.</p> + +<p id="id00879"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> +Late in the autumn, a party of the Indians set forth on their yearly +deer-hunt, and Jogues was ordered to go with them. Shivering and half +famished, he followed them through the chill November forest, and shared +their wild bivouac in the depths of the wintry desolation. The game they +took was devoted to Areskoui, their god, and eaten in his honor. Jogues +would not taste the meat offered to a demon; and thus he starved in the +midst of plenty. At night, when the kettle was slung, and the savage +crew made merry around their fire, he crouched in a corner of the hut, +gnawed by hunger, and pierced to the bone with cold. They thought his +presence unpropitious to their hunting, and the women especially hated +him. His demeanor at once astonished and incensed his masters. He +brought them fire-wood, like a squaw; he did their bidding without a +murmur, and patiently bore their abuse; but when they mocked at his God, +and laughed at his devotions, their slave assumed an air and tone of +authority, and sternly rebuked them. +<a href="#footer_16-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-15" name="footer_16-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1647</i>, 41.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00880"> +He would sometimes escape from "this Babylon," as he calls the hut, +and wander in the forest, telling his beads and repeating passages of +Scripture. In a remote and lonely spot, he cut the bark in the form of a +cross from the trunk of a great tree; and here he made his prayers. +This living martyr, half clad in shaggy furs, kneeling on the snow among +the icicled rocks and beneath the gloomy pines, bowing in adoration +before +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> +the emblem of the faith in which was his only consolation and his +only hope, is alike a theme for the pen and a subject for the pencil.</p> + +<p id="id00881"> +The Indians at last grew tired of him, and sent him back to the village. +Here he remained till the middle of March, baptizing infants and trying +to convert adults. He told them of the sun, moon, planets, and stars. +They listened with interest; but when from astronomy he passed to +theology, he spent his breath in vain. In March, the old man with whom +he lived set forth for his spring fishing, taking with him his squaw, +and several children. Jogues also was of the party. They repaired to a +lake, perhaps Lake Saratoga, four days distant. Here they subsisted for +some time on frogs, the entrails of fish, and other garbage. Jogues +passed his days in the forest, repeating his prayers, and carving the +name of Jesus on trees, as a terror to the demons of the wilderness. +A messenger at length arrived from the town; and on the following day, +under the pretence that signs of an enemy had been seen, the party broke +up their camp, and returned home in hot haste. The messenger had brought +tidings that a war-party, which had gone out against the French, had been +defeated and destroyed, and that the whole population were clamoring to +appease their grief by torturing Jogues to death. This was the true +cause of the sudden and mysterious return; but when they reached the town, +other tidings had arrived. The missing warriors were safe, and on their +way home in triumph with a large number of prisoners. Again +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> +Jogues's +life was spared; but he was forced to witness the torture and butchery of +the converts and allies of the French. Existence became unendurable to +him, and he longed to die. War-parties were continually going out. +Should they be defeated and cut off, he would pay the forfeit at the +stake; and if they came back, as they usually did, with booty and +prisoners, he was doomed to see his countrymen and their Indian friends +mangled, burned, and devoured.</p> + +<p id="id00882"> +Jogues had shown no disposition to escape, and great liberty was +therefore allowed him. He went from town to town, giving absolution to +the Christian captives, and converting and baptizing the heathen. +On one occasion, he baptized a woman in the midst of the fire, under +pretence of lifting a cup of water to her parched lips. There was no +lack of objects for his zeal. A single war-party returned from the Huron +country with nearly a hundred prisoners, who were distributed among the +Iroquois towns, and the greater part burned. +<a href="#footer_16-16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +Of the children of +the Mohawks and their neighbors, he had baptized, before August, about +seventy; insomuch that he began to regard his captivity as a Providential +interposition for the saving of souls.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00883" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-16" name="footer_16-16"></a> + <span class="superscript">[16]</span> + The Dutch clergyman, Megapolensis, at this time living at Fort + Orange, bears the strongest testimony to the ferocity with which his + friends, the Mohawks, treated their prisoners. He mentions the same + modes of torture which Jogues describes, and is very explicit as to + cannibalism. "The common people," he says, "eat the arms, buttocks, + and trunk; but the chiefs eat the head and the heart." (<i>Short + Sketch of the Mohawk Indians.</i>) This feast was of a religious + character. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00884"> +At the end of July, he went with a party of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> +Indians to a fishing-place on +the Hudson, about twenty miles below Fort Orange. While here, he learned +that another war-party had lately returned with prisoners, two of whom +had been burned to death at Osseruenon. On this, his conscience smote +him that he had not remained in the town to give the sufferers absolution +or baptism; and he begged leave of the old woman who had him in charge to +return at the first opportunity. A canoe soon after went up the river +with some of the Iroquois, and he was allowed to go in it. When they +reached Rensselaerswyck, the Indians landed to trade with the Dutch, +and took Jogues with them.</p> + +<p id="id00885"> +The centre of this rude little settlement was Fort Orange, a miserable +structure of logs, standing on a spot now within the limits of the city +of Albany. +<a href="#footer_16-17"><span class="superscript">[17]</span></a> +It contained several houses and other buildings; and behind it was a +small church, recently erected, and serving as the abode of the pastor, +Dominie Megapolensis, known in our day as the writer of an interesting, +though short, account of the Mohawks. Some twenty-five or thirty houses, +roughly built of boards and roofed with thatch, were scattered at +intervals on or near the borders of the Hudson, above and below the fort. +Their inhabitants, about a hundred in number, were for the most part rude +Dutch farmers, tenants of Van Rensselaer, the patroon, or lord of the +manor. They raised wheat, of which they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> +made beer, and oats, with which +they fed their numerous horses. They traded, too, with the Indians, who +profited greatly by the competition among them, receiving guns, knives, +axes, kettles, cloth, and beads, at moderate rates, in exchange for their +furs. +<a href="#footer_16-18"><span class="superscript">[18]</span></a> +The Dutch were on excellent terms with their red neighbors, met them in +the forest without the least fear, and sometimes intermarried with them. +They had known of Jogues's captivity, and, to their great honor, had made +efforts for his release, offering for that purpose goods to a considerable +value, but without effect. +<a href="#footer_16-19"><span class="superscript">[19]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00886" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-17" name="footer_16-17"></a> + <span class="superscript">[17]</span> + The site of the Phœnix Hotel.—<i>Note by Mr. Shea + to Jogues's Novum Belgium</i>. <br /> + <a id="footer_16-18" name="footer_16-18"></a> + <span class="superscript">[18]</span> + Jogues, <i>Novum Belgium</i>; Barnes, <i>Settlement of Albany</i>, + 50-55; O'Callaghan, <i>New Netherland</i>, Chap. VI.</p> + <p id="id00887"> + On the relations of the Mohawks and Dutch, see Megapolensis, + <i>Short Sketch of the Mohawk Indians</i>, and portions of + the letter of Jogues to his Superior, dated Rensselaerswyck, + Aug. 30, 1643.</p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-19" name="footer_16-19"></a> + <span class="superscript">[19]</span> + See a long letter of Arendt Van Curler (Corlaer) to Van Rensselaer, + June 16, 1643, in O'Callaghan's <i>New Netherland</i>, Appendix L. + "We persuaded them so far," writes Van Curler, "that they promised + not to kill them.… The French captives ran screaming after us, + and besought us to do all in our power to release them out of the + hands of the barbarians."<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00889"> +At Fort Orange Jogues heard startling news. The Indians of the village +where he lived were, he was told, enraged against him, and determined to +burn him. About the first of July, a war-party had set out for Canada, +and one of the warriors had offered to Jogues to be the bearer of a +letter from him to the French commander at Three Rivers, thinking +probably to gain some advantage under cover of a parley. Jogues knew +that the French would be on their guard; and he felt it his duty to lose +no opportunity of informing them as to the state of affairs among the +Iroquois. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> +A Dutchman gave him a piece of paper; and he wrote a letter, +in a jargon of Latin, French, and Huron, warning his countrymen to be on +their guard, as war-parties were constantly going out, and they could +hope for no respite from attack until late in the autumn. +<a href="#footer_16-20"><span class="superscript">[20]</span></a> + When the +Iroquois reached the mouth of the River Richelieu, where a small fort had +been built by the French the preceding summer, the messenger asked for a +parley, and gave Jogues's letter to the commander of the post, who, +after reading it, turned his cannon on the savages. They fled in dismay, +leaving behind them their baggage and some of their guns; and, returning +home in a fury, charged Jogues with having caused their discomfiture. +Jogues had expected this result, and was prepared to meet it; but several +of the principal Dutch settlers, and among them Van Curler, who had made +the previous attempt to rescue him, urged that his death was certain, +if he returned to the Indian town, and advised him to make his escape. +In the Hudson, opposite the settlement, lay a small Dutch vessel nearly +ready to sail. Van Curler offered him a passage in her to Bordeaux or +Rochelle,—representing that the opportunity was too good to be lost, +and making light of the prisoner's objection, that a connivance in his +escape on the part of the Dutch would excite the resentment of the +Indians against them. Jogues thanked him warmly; but, to his amazement, +asked for a night to consider the matter, and take counsel of God in +prayer.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-20" name="footer_16-20"></a> + <span class="superscript">[20]</span> + See a French rendering of the letter in Vimont, + <i>Relation, 1643</i>, p. 75. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00890"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> +He spent the night in great agitation, tossed by doubt, and full of +anxiety lest his self-love should beguile him from his duty. +<a href="#footer_16-21"><span class="superscript">[21]</span></a> +Was it not possible that the Indians might spare his life, +and that, by a timely drop of water, he might still rescue souls from +torturing devils, and eternal fires of perdition? On the other hand, +would he not, by remaining to meet a fate almost inevitable, incur the +guilt of suicide? And even should he escape torture and death, could he +hope that the Indians would again permit him to instruct and baptize +their prisoners? Of his French companions, one, Goupil, was dead; while +Couture had urged Jogues to flight, saying that he would then follow his +example, but that, so long as the Father remained a prisoner, he, Couture, +would share his fate. Before morning, Jogues had made his decision. +God, he thought, would be better pleased should he embrace the +opportunity given him. He went to find his Dutch friends, and, with a +profusion of thanks, accepted their offer. They told him that a boat +should be left for him on the shore, and that he must watch his time, +and escape in it to the vessel, where he would be safe.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-21" name="footer_16-21"></a> + <span class="superscript">[21]</span> + Buteux, <i>Narré</i>, MS. <br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00891"> +He and his Indian masters were lodged together in a large building, +like a barn, belonging to a Dutch farmer. It was a hundred feet long, +and had no partition of any kind. At one end the farmer kept his cattle; +at the other he slept with his wife, a Mohawk squaw, and his children, +while his Indian guests lay on the floor in the middle. +<a href="#footer_16-22"><span class="superscript">[22]</span></a> +As he is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> +described as one of the principal persons of the colony, +it is clear that the civilization of Rensselaerswyck was not high.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-22" name="footer_16-22"></a> + <span class="superscript">[22]</span> + Buteux, <i>Narré</i>, MS. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00892"> +In the evening, Jogues, in such a manner as not to excite the suspicion +of the Indians, went out to reconnoitre. There was a fence around the +house, and, as he was passing it, a large dog belonging to the farmer +flew at him, and bit him very severely in the leg. The Dutchman, hearing +the noise, came out with a light, led Jogues back into the building, +and bandaged his wound. He seemed to have some suspicion of the +prisoner's design; for, fearful perhaps that his escape might exasperate +the Indians, he made fast the door in such a manner that it could not +readily be opened. Jogues now lay down among the Indians, who, rolled in +their blankets, were stretched around him. He was fevered with +excitement; and the agitation of his mind, joined to the pain of his +wound, kept him awake all night. About dawn, while the Indians were +still asleep, a laborer in the employ of the farmer came in with a +lantern, and Jogues, who spoke no Dutch, gave him to understand by signs +that he needed his help and guidance. The man was disposed to aid him, +silently led the way out, quieted the dogs, and showed him the path to +the river. It was more than half a mile distant, and the way was rough +and broken. Jogues was greatly exhausted, and his wounded limb gave him +such pain that he walked with the utmost difficulty. When he reached the +shore, the day was breaking, and he found, to his dismay, that the ebb of +the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> +tide had left the boat high and dry. He shouted to the vessel, +but no one heard him. His desperation gave him strength; and, by working +the boat to and fro, he pushed it at length, little by little, into the +water, entered it, and rowed to the vessel. The Dutch sailors received +him kindly, and hid him in the bottom of the hold, placing a large box +over the hatchway.</p> + +<p id="id00893"> +He remained two days, half stifled, in this foul lurking-place, while the +Indians, furious at his escape, ransacked the settlement in vain to find +him. They came off to the vessel, and so terrified the officers, that +Jogues was sent on shore at night, and led to the fort. Here he was +hidden in the garret of a house occupied by a miserly old man, to whose +charge he was consigned. Food was sent to him; but, as his host +appropriated the larger part to himself, Jogues was nearly starved. +There was a compartment of his garret, separated from the rest by a +partition of boards. Here the old Dutchman, who, like many others of the +settlers, carried on a trade with the Mohawks, kept a quantity of goods +for that purpose; and hither he often brought his customers. The boards +of the partition had shrunk, leaving wide crevices; and Jogues could +plainly see the Indians, as they passed between him and the light. +They, on their part, might as easily have seen him, if he had not, +when he heard them entering the house, hidden himself behind some barrels +in the corner, where he would sometimes remain crouched for hours, +in a constrained and painful posture, half suffocated +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span> +with heat, and +afraid to move a limb. His wounded leg began to show dangerous symptoms; +but he was relieved by the care of a Dutch surgeon of the fort. The +minister, Megapolensis, also visited him, and did all in his power for +the comfort of his Catholic brother, with whom he seems to have been well +pleased, and whom he calls "a very learned scholar." +<a href="#footer_16-23"><span class="superscript">[23]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-23" name="footer_16-23"></a> + <span class="superscript">[23]</span> + Megapolensis, <i>A Short Sketch of the Mohawk Indians</i>. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00894"> +When Jogues had remained for six weeks in this hiding-place, his Dutch +friends succeeded in satisfying his Indian masters by the payment of a +large ransom. +<a href="#footer_16-24"><span class="superscript">[24]</span></a> + A vessel from Manhattan, now New York, soon +after brought up an order from the Director-General, Kieft, that he +should be sent to him. Accordingly he was placed in a small vessel, +which carried him down the Hudson. The Dutch on board treated him with +great kindness; and, to do him honor, named after him one of the islands +in the river. At Manhattan he found a dilapidated fort, garrisoned by +sixty soldiers, and containing a stone church and the Director-General's +house, together with storehouses and barracks. Near it were ranges of +small houses, occupied chiefly by mechanics and laborers; while the +dwellings of the remaining colonists, numbering in all four or five +hundred, were scattered here and there on the island and the neighboring +shores. The settlers were of different sects and nations, but chiefly +Dutch Calvinists. Kieft told his guest that eighteen different languages +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> +were spoken at Manhattan. +<a href="#footer_16-25"><span class="superscript">[25]</span></a> +The colonists were in the midst of a bloody Indian war, brought on by +their own besotted cruelty; and while Jogues was at the fort, some forty +of the Dutchmen were killed on the neighboring farms, and many barns and +houses burned. +<a href="#footer_16-26"><span class="superscript">[26]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-24" name="footer_16-24"></a> + <span class="superscript">[24]</span> + <i>Lettre de Jogues à Lalemant, Rennes, Jan. 6, + 1644</i>.—See <i>Relation, 1643</i>, p. 79.—Goods + were given the Indians to the value of three hundred + livres. <br /> + <a id="footer_16-25" name="footer_16-25"></a> + <span class="superscript">[25]</span> + Jogues, <i>Novum Belgium</i>. <br /> + <a id="footer_16-26" name="footer_16-26"></a> + <span class="superscript">[26]</span> + This war was with Algonquin tribes of the + neighborhood.—See O'Callaghan, <i>New + Netherland</i>, I., Chap. III.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00895"> +<a id="id00895a" name="id00895a"></a> +The Director-General, with a humanity that was far from usual with him, +exchanged Jogues's squalid and savage dress for a suit of Dutch cloth, +and gave him passage in a small vessel which was then about to sail. +The voyage was rough and tedious; and the passenger slept on deck or on a +coil of ropes, suffering greatly from cold, and often drenched by the +waves that broke over the vessel's side. At length she reached Falmouth, +on the southern coast of England, when all the crew went ashore for a +carouse, leaving Jogues alone on board. A boat presently came alongside +with a gang of desperadoes, who boarded her, and rifled her of everything +valuable, threatened Jogues with a pistol, and robbed him of his hat and +coat. He obtained some assistance from the crew of a French ship in the +harbor, and, on the day before Christmas, took passage in a small coal +vessel for the neighboring coast of Brittany. In the following afternoon +he was set on shore a little to the north of Brest, and, seeing a +peasant's cottage not far off, he approached it, and asked the way to the +nearest church. The peasant and his wife, as the narrative gravely tells +us, mistook +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> +him, by reason of his modest deportment, for some poor, +but pious Irishman, and asked him to share their supper, after finishing +his devotions, an invitation which Jogues, half famished as he was, +gladly accepted. He reached the church in time +<ins title="Changed to early mass in later volumes."> +for the evening mass,</ins> and with an unutterable joy knelt before the altar, +and renewed the communion of which he had been deprived so long. When he +returned to the cottage, the attention of his hosts was at once attracted +to his mutilated and distorted hands. They asked with amazement how he +could have received such injuries; and when they heard the story of his +tortures, their surprise and veneration knew no bounds. Two young girls, +their daughters, begged him to accept all they had to give,—a handful of +sous; while the peasant made known the character of his new guest to his +neighbors. A trader from Rennes brought a horse to the door, and offered +the use of it to Jogues, to carry him to the Jesuit college in that town. +He gratefully accepted it; and, on the morning of the fifth of January, +1644, reached his destination.</p> + +<p id="id00896"> +He dismounted, and knocked at the door of the college. The porter opened +it, and saw a man wearing on his head an old woollen nightcap, and in an +attire little better than that of a beggar. Jogues asked to see the +Rector; but the porter answered, coldly, that the Rector was busied in +the Sacristy. Jogues begged him to say that a man was at the door with +news from Canada. The missions of Canada were at this time an object of +primal interest to the Jesuits, and above all to the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> +Jesuits of France. +A letter from Jogues, written during his captivity, had already reached +France, as had also the Jesuit <i>Relation</i> of 1643, which contained a long +account of his capture; and he had no doubt been an engrossing theme of +conversation in every house of the French Jesuits. The Father Rector was +putting on his vestments to say mass; but when he heard that a poor man +from Canada had asked for him at the door, he postponed the service, +and went to meet him. Jogues, without discovering himself, gave him a +letter from the Dutch Director-General attesting his character. The +Rector, without reading it, began to question him as to the affairs of +Canada, and at length asked him if he knew Father Jogues.</p> + +<p id="id00897"> +"I knew him very well," was the reply.</p> + +<p id="id00898"> +"The Iroquois have taken him," pursued the Rector. "Is he dead? Have +they murdered him?"</p> + +<p id="id00899"> +"No," answered Jogues; "he is alive and at liberty, and I am he." +And he fell on his knees to ask his Superior's blessing. +</p> + +<p id="id00900"> +That night was a night of jubilation and thanksgiving in the college of +Rennes. +<a href="#footer_16-27"><span class="superscript">[27]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00901" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_16-27" name="footer_16-27"></a> + <span class="superscript">[27]</span> + For Jogues's arrival in Brittany, see <i>Lettre de Jogues à + Lalemant, Rennes, Jan. 6, 1644; Lettre de Jogues + à———, Rennes, Jan. 5, 1644</i>, + (in <i>Relation, 1643</i>,) and the long account in the + <i>Relation</i> of 1647.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00902"> +Jogues became a centre of curiosity and reverence. He was summoned to +Paris. The Queen, Anne of Austria, wished to see him; and when the +persecuted slave of the Mohawks was conducted into her presence, she +kissed his mutilated hands, while the ladies of the Court thronged around to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> +do him homage. We are told, and no doubt with truth, that these +honors were unwelcome to the modest and single-hearted missionary, +who thought only of returning to his work of converting the Indians. +A priest with any deformity of body is debarred from saying mass. +The teeth and knives of the Iroquois had inflicted an injury worse than +the torturers imagined, for they had robbed Jogues of the privilege which +was the chief consolation of his life; but the Pope, by a special +dispensation, restored it to him, and with the opening spring he sailed +again for Canada.</p> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_17" id="Chapter_17"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00903"><a href="#Contents17">CHAPTER XVII.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1641-1646.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00904" class="smcapheader">THE IROQUOIS—BRESSANI—DE NOUË.</p> + <p id="id00905" class="noindent space-bottom"> + War • Distress and Terror • Richelieu • + Battle • Ruin of Indian Tribes • + Mutual Destruction • Iroquois and Algonquin • + Atrocities • Frightful Position of the French • + Joseph Bressani • His Capture • + His Treatment • His Escape • + Anne de Nouë • His Nocturnal Journey • + His Death + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00906"> +<span class="smcap">Two</span> forces were battling for the mastery of +Canada: on the one side, Christ, the Virgin, and the Angels, with their +agents, the priests; on the other, the Devil, and his tools, the +Iroquois. Such at least was the view of the case held in full faith, +not by the Jesuit Fathers alone, but by most of the colonists. Never +before had the fiend put forth such rage, and in the Iroquois he found +instruments of a nature not uncongenial with his own.</p> + +<p id="id00907"> +At Quebec, Three Rivers, Montreal, and the little fort of Richelieu, +that is to say, in all Canada, no man could hunt, fish, till the fields, +or cut a tree in the forest, without peril to his scalp. The Iroquois +were everywhere, and nowhere. A yell, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> +a volley of bullets, a rush of +screeching savages, and all was over. The soldiers hastened to the spot +to find silence, solitude, and a mangled corpse.</p> + +<p id="id00908"> +"I had as lief," writes Father Vimont, "be beset by goblins as by the +Iroquois. The one are about as invisible as the other. Our people on +the Richelieu and at Montreal are kept in a closer confinement than ever +were monks or nuns in our smallest convents in France."</p> + +<p id="id00909"> +The Confederates at this time were in a flush of unparalleled audacity. +They despised white men as base poltroons, and esteemed themselves +warriors and heroes, destined to conquer all mankind. +<a href="#footer_17-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +The fire-arms with which the Dutch had rashly supplied them, joined to their +united councils, their courage, and ferocity, gave them an advantage over +the surrounding tribes which they fully understood. Their passions rose +with their sense of power. They boasted that they would wipe the Hurons, +the Algonquins, and the French from the face of the earth, and carry the +"white girls," meaning the nuns, to their villages. This last event, +indeed, seemed more than probable; and the Hospital nuns left their +exposed station at Sillery, and withdrew to the ramparts and palisades of +Quebec. The St. Lawrence and the Ottawa were so infested, that +communication with the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> +Huron country was cut off; and three times the +annual packet of letters sent thither to the missionaries fell into the +hands of the Iroquois.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00910" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-1" name="footer_17-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Bressani, when a prisoner among them, writes to this effect + in a letter to his Superior.—See <i>Relation + Abrégée</i>, 131.</p> + <p id="id00911"> + The anonymous author of the Relation of 1660 says, that, + in their belief, if their nation were destroyed, a general + confusion and overthrow of mankind must needs be the + consequence.—<i>Relation, 1660</i>, 6.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00912"> +It was towards the close of the year 1640 that the scourge of Iroquois +war had begun to fall heavily on the French. At that time, a party of +their warriors waylaid and captured Thomas Godefroy and François +Marguerie, the latter a young man of great energy and daring, familiar +with the woods, a master of the Algonquin language, and a scholar of no +mean acquirements. +<a href="#footer_17-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +To the great joy +of the colonists, he and his companion were brought back to Three Rivers +by their captors, and given up, in the vain hope that the French would +respond with a gift of fire-arms. Their demand for them being declined, +they broke off the parley in a rage, fortified themselves, fired on the +French, and withdrew under cover of night.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-2" name="footer_17-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + During his captivity, he wrote, on a beaver-skin, + a letter to the Dutch in French, Latin, and English.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00913"> +Open war now ensued, and for a time all was bewilderment and terror. +How to check the inroads of an enemy so stealthy and so keen for blood +was the problem that taxed the brain of Montmagny, the Governor. He +thought he had found a solution, when he conceived the plan of building a +fort at the mouth of the River Richelieu, by which the Iroquois always +made their descents to the St. Lawrence. Happily for the perishing +colony, the Cardinal de Richelieu, in 1642, sent out thirty or forty +soldiers for its defence. +<a href="#footer_17-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +Ten times the number +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> +would have been scarcely +sufficient; but even this slight succor was hailed with delight, and +Montmagny was enabled to carry into effect his plan of the fort, for +which hitherto he had had neither builders nor garrison. He took with +him, besides the new-comers, a body of soldiers and armed laborers from +Quebec, and, with a force of about a hundred men in all, +<a href="#footer_17-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +sailed for the Richelieu, +in a brigantine and two or three open boats.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-3" name="footer_17-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + Faillon, <i>Colonie Française</i>, II. 2; + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1642</i>, 2, 44.<br /> + <a id="footer_17-4" name="footer_17-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Marie de l'Incarnation, <i>Lettre, Sept. 29, 1642.</i><br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00914"> +On the thirteenth of August he reached his destination, and landed where +the town of Sorel now stands. It was but eleven days before that Jogues +and his companions had been captured, and Montmagny's followers found +ghastly tokens of the disaster. The heads of the slain were stuck on +poles by the side of the river; and several trees, from which portions of +the bark had been peeled, were daubed with the rude picture-writing in +which the victors recorded their exploit. +<a href="#footer_17-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +Among the rest, a representation of Jogues himself was clearly +distinguishable. The heads were removed, the trees cut down, +and a large cross planted on the spot. An altar was raised, +and all heard mass; then a volley of musketry was fired; and +then they fell to their work. They hewed an opening into the +forest, dug up the roots, cleared the ground, and cut, shaped, and +planted +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> +palisades. Thus a week passed, and their defences were nearly +completed, when suddenly the war-whoop rang in their ears, and two +hundred Iroquois rushed upon them from the borders of the clearing. +<a href="#footer_17-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00915" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-5" name="footer_17-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1642</i>, 52.</p> + <p id="id00916"> + This practice was common to many tribes, and is not + yet extinct. The writer has seen similar records, made + by recent war-parties of Crows or Blackfeet, in the remote + West. In this case, the bark was removed from the trunks + of large cotton-wood trees, and the pictures traced with + charcoal and vermilion. There were marks for scalps, for + prisoners, and for the conquerors themselves.<br /> + <a id="footer_17-6" name="footer_17-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + The <i>Relation</i> of 1642 says three hundred. Jogues, + who had been among them to his cost, is the better authority.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00917"> +It was the party of warriors that Jogues had met on an island in Lake +Champlain. But for the courage of Du Rocher, a corporal, who was on +guard, they would have carried all before them. They were rushing +through an opening in the palisade, when he, with a few soldiers, met +them with such vigor and resolution, that they were held in check long +enough for the rest to snatch their arms. Montmagny, who was on the +river in his brigantine, hastened on shore, and the soldiers, encouraged +by his arrival, fought with great determination.</p> + +<p id="id00918"> +The Iroquois, on their part, swarmed up to the palisade, thrust their +guns through the loop-holes, and fired on those within; nor was it till +several of them had been killed and others wounded that they learned to +keep a more prudent distance. A tall savage, wearing a crest of the hair +of some animal, dyed scarlet and bound with a fillet of wampum, leaped +forward to the attack, and was shot dead. Another shared his fate, +with seven buck-shot in his shield, and as many in his body. The French, +with shouts, redoubled their fire, and the Indians at length lost heart +and fell back. The wounded dropped guns, shields, and war-clubs, and the +whole band withdrew to the shelter of a fort which they had built in the +forest, three miles above. On the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> +part of the French, one man was killed +and four wounded. They had narrowly escaped a disaster which might have +proved the ruin of the colony; and they now gained time so far to +strengthen their defences as to make them reasonably secure against any +attack of savages. +<a href="#footer_17-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +The new fort, however, did not effectually +answer its purpose of stopping the inroads of the Iroquois. They would +land a mile or more above it, carry their canoes through the forest +across an intervening tongue of land, and then launch them in the +St. Lawrence, while the garrison remained in total ignorance of their +movements.</p> + +<div id="id00919" class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-7" name="footer_17-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1642</i>, 50, 51.</p> + <p id="id00920"> + Assaults by Indians on fortified places are rare. + The Iroquois are known, however, to have made them + with success in several cases, some of the most + remarkable of which will appear hereafter. The + courage of Indians is uncertain and spasmodic. + They are capable, at times, of a furious temerity, + approaching desperation; but this is liable to + sudden and extreme reaction. Their courage, too, + is much oftener displayed in covert than in open + attacks.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00921"> +While the French were thus beset, their Indian allies fared still worse. +The effect of Iroquois hostilities on all the Algonquin tribes of Canada, +from the Saguenay to the Lake of the Nipissings, had become frightfully +apparent. Famine and pestilence had aided the ravages of war, till these +wretched bands seemed in the course of rapid extermination. Their spirit +was broken. They became humble and docile in the hands of the +missionaries, ceased their railings against the new doctrine, and leaned +on the French as their only hope in this extremity of woe. Sometimes +they would appear in troops at Sillery or Three Rivers, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> +scared out of +their forests by the sight of an Iroquois footprint; then some new terror +would seize them, and drive them back to seek a hiding-place in the +deepest thickets of the wilderness. Their best hunting-grounds were +beset by the enemy. They starved for weeks together, subsisting on the +bark of trees or the thongs of raw hide which formed the net-work of +their snow-shoes. The mortality among them was prodigious. "Where, +eight years ago," writes Father Vimont, "one would see a hundred wigwams, +one now sees scarcely five or six. A chief who once had eight hundred +warriors has now but thirty or forty; and in place of fleets of three or +four hundred canoes, we see less than a tenth of that number." +<a href="#footer_17-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-8" name="footer_17-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + <i>Relation, 1644</i>, 3.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00922"> +These Canadian tribes were undergoing that process of extermination, +absorption, or expatriation, which, as there is reason to believe, +had for many generations formed the gloomy and meaningless history of the +greater part of this continent. Three or four hundred Dutch guns, +in the hands of the conquerors, gave an unwonted quickness and decision +to the work, but in no way changed its essential character. The horrible +nature of this warfare can be known only through examples; and of these +one or two will suffice.</p> + +<p id="id00923"> +A band of Algonquins, late in the autumn of 1641, set forth from Three +Rivers on their winter hunt, and, fearful of the Iroquois, made their way +far northward, into the depths of the forests that border the Ottawa. +Here they thought themselves +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> +safe, built their lodges, and began to hunt +the moose and beaver. But a large party of their enemies, with a +persistent ferocity that is truly astonishing, had penetrated even here, +found the traces of the snow-shoes, followed up their human prey, and hid +at nightfall among the rocks and thickets around the encampment. At +midnight, their yells and the blows of their war-clubs awakened their +sleeping victims. In a few minutes all were in their power. They bound +the prisoners hand and foot, rekindled the fire, slung the kettles, +cut the bodies of the slain to pieces, and boiled and devoured them +before the eyes of the wretched survivors. "In a word," says the +narrator, "they ate men with as much appetite and more pleasure than +hunters eat a boar or a stag." +<a href="#footer_17-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-9" name="footer_17-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1642</i>, 46.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00924"> +Meanwhile they amused themselves with bantering their prisoners. "Uncle," +said one of them to an old Algonquin, "you are a dead man. You are going +to the land of souls. Tell them to take heart: they will have good +company soon, for we are going to send all the rest of your nation to +join them. This will be good news for them." +<a href="#footer_17-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-10" name="footer_17-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1642</i>, 45.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00925"> +This old man, who is described as no less malicious than his captors, +and even more crafty, soon after escaped, and brought tidings of the +disaster to the French. In the following spring, two women of the party +also escaped; and, after suffering almost incredible hardships, reached +Three Rivers, torn with briers, nearly naked, and in a deplorable state +of bodily and mental exhaustion. One of them +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span> +told her story to Father +Buteux, who translated it into French, and gave it to Vimont to be +printed in the <i>Relation</i> of 1642. Revolting as it is, it is necessary to +recount it. Suffice it to say, that it is sustained by the whole body of +contemporary evidence in regard to the practices of the Iroquois and some +of the neighboring tribes.</p> + +<p id="id00926"> +The conquerors feasted in the lodge till nearly daybreak, and then, +after a short rest, began their march homeward with their prisoners. +Among these were three women, of whom the narrator was one, who had each +a child of a few weeks or months old. At the first halt, their captors +took the infants from them, tied them to wooden spits, placed them to die +slowly before a fire, and feasted on them before the eyes of the agonized +mothers, whose shrieks, supplications, and frantic efforts to break the +cords that bound them were met with mockery and laughter. "They are not +men, they are wolves!" sobbed the wretched woman, as she told what had +befallen her to the pitying Jesuit. +<a href="#footer_17-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +At the Fall of the Chaudière, another of the women ended her woes by +leaping into the cataract. When they approached the first Iroquois town, +they were met, at the distance of several leagues, by a crowd of the +inhabitants, and among them a troop of women, bringing food to regale the +triumphant warriors. Here they halted, and passed the night in songs of +victory, mingled with the dismal chant of the prisoners, who were forced +to dance for their entertainment.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-11" name="footer_17-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1642</i>, 46.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00927"> +On the morrow, they entered the town, leading +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> +the captive Algonquins, +fast bound, and surrounded by a crowd of men, women, and children, +all singing at the top of their throats. The largest lodge was ready to +receive them; and as they entered, the victims read their doom in the +fires that blazed on the earthen floor, and in the aspect of the +attendant savages, whom the Jesuit Father calls attendant demons, that +waited their coming. The torture which ensued was but preliminary, +designed to cause all possible suffering without touching life. It +consisted in blows with sticks and cudgels, gashing their limbs with +knives, cutting off their fingers with clam-shells, scorching them with +firebrands, and other indescribable torments. +<a href="#footer_17-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +The women were stripped naked, and forced to dance to the singing of the +male prisoners, amid the applause and laughter of the crowd. They then +gave them food, to strengthen them for further suffering.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00928" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-12" name="footer_17-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + "Cette pauure creature qui s'est sauuée, a les + deux pouces couppez, ou plus tost hachez. Quand ils me + les eurent couppez, disoit-elle, ils me les voulurent + faire manger; mais ie les mis sur mon giron, et leur + dis qu'ils me tuassent s'ils vouloient, que ie ne leur + pouuois obeir."—Buteux in <i>Relation, 1642</i>, + 47.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00929"> +On the following morning, they were placed on a large scaffold, in sight +of the whole population. It was a gala-day. Young and old were gathered +from far and near. Some mounted the scaffold, and scorched them with +torches and firebrands; while the children, standing beneath the bark +platform, applied fire to the feet of the prisoners between the crevices. +The Algonquin women were told to burn their husbands and companions; and +one of them obeyed, vainly thinking to appease her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> +tormentors. The +stoicism of one of the warriors enraged his captors beyond measure. +"Scream! why don't you scream?" they cried, thrusting their burning +brands at his naked body. "Look at me," he answered; "you cannot make me +wince. If you were in my place, you would screech like babies." At this +they fell upon him with redoubled fury, till their knives and firebrands +left in him no semblance of humanity. He was defiant to the last, +and when death came to his relief, they tore out his heart and devoured +it; then hacked him in pieces, and made their feast of triumph on his +mangled limbs. +<a href="#footer_17-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00930" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-13" name="footer_17-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + The diabolical practices described above were not peculiar to the + Iroquois. The Neutrals and other kindred tribes were no whit less + cruel. It is a remark of Mr. Gallatin, and I think a just one, that + the Indians west of the Mississippi are less ferocious than those + east of it. The burning of prisoners is rare among the prairie + tribes, but is not unknown. An Ogillallah chief, in whose lodge I + lived for several weeks in 1846, described to me, with most expressive + pantomime, how he had captured and burned a warrior of the Snake Tribe, + in a valley of the Medicine Bow Mountains, near which we were then + encamped. +<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00931"> +All the men and all the old women of the party were put to death in a +similar manner, though but few displayed the same amazing fortitude. +The younger women, of whom there were about thirty, after passing their +ordeal of torture, were permitted to live; and, disfigured as they were, +were distributed among the several villages, as concubines or slaves to +the Iroquois warriors. Of this number were the narrator and her +companion, who, being ordered to accompany a war-party and carry their +provisions, escaped at night into the forest, and reached Three Rivers, +as we have seen.</p> + +<p id="id00932"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span> +While the Indian allies of the French were wasting away beneath this +atrocious warfare, the French themselves, and especially the travelling +Jesuits, had their full share of the infliction. In truth, the puny and +sickly colony seemed in the gasps of dissolution. The beginning of +spring, particularly, was a season of terror and suspense; for with the +breaking up of the ice, sure as a destiny, came the Iroquois. As soon as +a canoe could float, they were on the war-path; and with the cry of the +returning wild-fowl mingled the yell of these human tigers. They did not +always wait for the breaking ice, but set forth on foot, and, when they +came to open water, made canoes and embarked.</p> + +<p id="id00933"> +Well might Father Vimont call the Iroquois "the scourge of this infant +church." They burned, hacked, and devoured the neophytes; exterminated +whole villages at once; destroyed the nations whom the Fathers hoped to +convert; and ruined that sure ally of the missions, the fur-trade. +Not the most hideous nightmare of a fevered brain could transcend in +horror the real and waking perils with which they beset the path of these +intrepid priests.</p> + +<p id="id00934"> +In the spring of 1644, Joseph Bressani, an Italian Jesuit, born in Rome, +and now for two years past a missionary in Canada, was ordered by his +Superior to go up to the Hurons. It was so early in the season that +there seemed hope that he might pass in safety; and as the Fathers in +that wild mission had received no succor for three years, Bressani was +charged with letters to them, and such +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> +necessaries for their use as he +was able to carry. With him were six young Hurons, lately converted, +and a French boy in his service. The party were in three small canoes. +Before setting out, they all confessed and prepared for death.</p> + +<p id="id00935"> +They left Three Rivers on the twenty-seventh of April, and found ice +still floating in the river, and patches of snow lying in the naked +forests. On the first day, one of the canoes overset, nearly drowning +Bressani, who could not swim. On the third day, a snow-storm began, +and greatly retarded their progress. The young Indians foolishly fired +their guns at the wild-fowl on the river, and the sound reached the ears +of a war-party of Iroquois, one of ten that had already set forth for the +St. Lawrence, the Ottawa, and the Huron towns. +<a href="#footer_17-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +Hence it befell, that, as they crossed the mouth of a small stream +entering the St. Lawrence, twenty-seven Iroquois suddenly issued from +behind a point, and attacked them in canoes. One of the Hurons was +killed, and all the rest of the party captured without resistance.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-14" name="footer_17-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1644</i>, 41.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00936"> +On the fifteenth of July following, Bressani wrote from the Iroquois +country to the General of the Jesuits at Rome:—"I do not know if your +Paternity will recognize the handwriting of one whom you once knew very +well. The letter is soiled and ill-written; because the writer has only +one finger of his right hand left entire, and cannot prevent the blood +from his wounds, which are still open, from staining the paper. His ink +is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span> +gunpowder mixed with water, and his table is the earth." +<a href="#footer_17-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-15" name="footer_17-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + This letter is printed anonymously in the Second Part, Chap. II, + of Bressani's <i>Relation Abrégée</i>. A comparison + with Vimont's account, in the <i>Relation</i> of 1644, makes its + authorship apparent. Vimont's narrative agrees in all essential + points. His informant was "vne personne digne de foy, qui a + esté tesmoin oculaire de tout ce qu'il a souffert pendant + sa captiuité."—Vimont, <i>Relation, 1644</i>, 43.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00937"> +Then follows a modest narrative of what he endured at the hands of his +captors. First they thanked the Sun for their victory; then plundered +the canoes; then cut up, roasted, and devoured the slain Huron before the +eyes of the prisoners. On the next day they crossed to the southern +shore, and ascended the River Richelieu as far as the rapids of Chambly, +whence they pursued their march on foot among the brambles, rocks, +and swamps of the trackless forest. When they reached Lake Champlain, +they made new canoes and re-embarked, landed at its southern extremity +six days afterwards, and thence made for the Upper Hudson. Here they +found a fishing camp of four hundred Iroquois, and now Bressani's +torments began in earnest. They split his hand with a knife, between the +little finger and the ring finger; then beat him with sticks, till he was +covered with blood; and afterwards placed him on one of their +torture-scaffolds of bark, as a spectacle to the crowd. Here they stripped him, +and while he shivered with cold from head to foot they forced him to +sing. After about two hours they gave him up to the children, who +ordered him to dance, at the same time thrusting sharpened sticks into +his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> +flesh, and pulling out his hair and beard. "Sing!" cried one; "Hold +your tongue!" screamed another; and if he obeyed the first, the second +burned him. "We will burn you to death; we will eat you." "I will eat +one of your hands." "And I will eat one of your feet." +<a href="#footer_17-16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +These scenes were renewed every night for a week. Every evening +a chief cried aloud through the camp, "Come, my children, come and caress +our prisoners!"—and the savage crew thronged jubilant to a large hut, +where the captives lay. They stripped off the torn fragment of a cassock, +which was the priest's only garment; burned him with live coals and +red-hot stones; forced him to walk on hot cinders; burned off now a +finger-nail and now the joint of a finger,—rarely more than one at a +time, however, for they economized their pleasures, and reserved the rest +for another day. This torture was protracted till one or two o'clock, +after which they left him on the ground, fast bound to four stakes, +and covered only with a scanty fragment of deer-skin. +<a href="#footer_17-17"><span class="superscript">[17]</span></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span> +The other +prisoners had their share of torture; but the worst fell upon the Jesuit, +as the chief man of the party. The unhappy boy who attended him, though +only twelve or thirteen years old, was tormented before his eyes with a +pitiless ferocity.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00938" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-16" name="footer_17-16"></a> + <span class="superscript">[16]</span> + "Ils me répétaient sans cesse: Nous te + brûlerons; nous te mangerons;—je te mangerai + un pied;—et moi, une main," etc.—Bressani, + in <i>Relation Abrégée</i>, 137.<br /> + <a id="footer_17-17" name="footer_17-17"></a> + <span class="superscript">[17]</span> + "Chaque nuit après m'avoir fait chanter, et m'avoir + tourmenté comme ie l'ai dit, ils passaient environ + un quart d'heure à me brûler un ongle ou un + doigt. Il ne m'en reste maintenant qu'un seul entier, et + encore ils en ont arraché l'ongle avec les dents. + Un soir ils m'enlevaient un ongle, le lendemain la + première phalange, le jour suivant la seconde. En + six fois, ils en brûlèrent presque six. Aux + mains seules, ils m'ont appliqué le feu et le fer + plus de 18 fois, et i'étais obligé de chanter + pendant ce supplice. Ils ne cessaient de me tourmenter + qu'à une ou deux heures de la nuit."—Bressani, + <i>Relation Abrégée</i>, 122.</p> + <p id="id00939"> + Bressani speaks in another passage of tortures of a nature + yet more excruciating. They were similar to those alluded + to by the anonymous author of the <i>Relation</i> of 1660: + "Ie ferois rougir ce papier, et les oreilles frémiroient, + si ie rapportois les horribles traitemens que les Agnieronnons" + (<i>the Mohawk nation of the Iroquois</i>) "ont faits sur quelques + captifs." He adds, that past ages have never heard of + such.—<i>Relation, 1660</i>, 7, 8.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00940"> +At length they left this encampment, and, after a march of several +days,—during which Bressani, in wading a rocky stream, fell from +exhaustion and was nearly drowned,—they reached an Iroquois town. +It is needless to follow the revolting details of the new torments that +succeeded. They hung him by the feet with chains; placed food for their +dogs on his naked body, that they might lacerate him as they ate; and at +last had reduced his emaciated frame to such a condition, that even they +themselves stood in horror of him. "I could not have believed," he +writes to his Superior, "that a man was so hard to kill." He found among +them those who, from compassion, or from a refinement of cruelty, fed him, +for he could not feed himself. They told him jestingly that they wished +to fatten him before putting him to death.</p> + +<p id="id00941"> +The council that was to decide his fate met on the nineteenth of June, +when, to the prisoner's amazement, and, as it seemed, to their own +surprise, they resolved to spare his life. He was given, with due +ceremony, to an old woman, to take the place of a deceased relative; but, +since he was as repulsive, in his mangled condition, as, by the Indian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span> +standard, he was useless, she sent her son with him to Fort Orange, +to sell him to the Dutch. With the same humanity which they had shown in +the case of Jogues, they gave a generous ransom for him, supplied him +with clothing, kept him till his strength was in some degree recruited, +and then placed him on board a vessel bound for Rochelle. Here he +arrived on the fifteenth of November; and in the following spring, +maimed and disfigured, but with health restored, embarked to dare again +the knives and firebrands of the Iroquois. +<a href="#footer_17-18"><span class="superscript">[18]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00942" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-18" name="footer_17-18"></a> + <span class="superscript">[18]</span> + Immediately on his return to Canada he was ordered to set out + again for the Hurons. More fortunate than on his first attempt, + he arrived safely, early in the autumn of 1645.—Ragueneau, + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1646</i>, 73.</p> + <p id="id00943"> + On Bressani, besides the authorities cited, see Du Creux, + <i>Historia Canadensis</i>, 399-403; Juchereau, <i>Histoire + de l'Hôtel-Dieu</i>, 53; and Martin, <i>Biographie du + P. François-Joseph Bressani</i>, prefixed to the + <i>Relation Abrégée</i>.</p> + <p id="id00944"> + He made no converts while a prisoner, but he baptized a Huron + catechumen at the stake, to the great fury of the surrounding + Iroquois. He has left, besides his letters, some interesting + notes on his captivity, preserved in the <i>Relation + Abrégée</i>.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00945"> +It should be noticed, in justice to the Iroquois, that, ferocious and +cruel as past all denial they were, they were not so bereft of the +instincts of humanity as at first sight might appear. An inexorable +severity towards enemies was a very essential element, in their savage +conception, of the character of the warrior. Pity was a cowardly +weakness, at which their pride revolted. This, joined to their thirst +for applause and their dread of ridicule, made them smother every +movement of compassion, +<a href="#footer_17-19"><span class="superscript">[19]</span></a> +and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> +conspired with their native fierceness +to form a character of unrelenting cruelty rarely equalled.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00946" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-19" name="footer_17-19"></a> + <span class="superscript">[19]</span> + Thus, when Bressani, tortured by the tightness of the cords that + bound him, asked an Indian to loosen them, he would reply by mockery, + if others were present; but if no one saw him, he usually complied.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00947"> +The perils which beset the missionaries did not spring from the fury of +the Iroquois alone, for Nature herself was armed with terror in this +stern wilderness of New France. On the thirtieth of January, 1646, +Father Anne de Nouë set out from Three Rivers to go to the fort built by +the French at the mouth of the River Richelieu, where he was to say mass +and hear confessions. De Nouë was sixty-three years old, and had come to +Canada in 1625. +<a href="#footer_17-20"><span class="superscript">[20]</span></a> +As an indifferent +memory disabled him from mastering the Indian languages, he devoted +himself to the spiritual charge of the French, and of the Indians about +the forts, within reach of an interpreter. For the rest, he attended the +sick, and, in times of scarcity, fished in the river or dug roots in the +woods for the subsistence of his flock. In short, though sprung from a +noble family of Champagne, he shrank from no toil, however humble, +to which his idea of duty or his vow of obedience called him. +<a href="#footer_17-21"><span class="superscript">[21]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-20" name="footer_17-20"></a> + <span class="superscript">[20]</span> + See "Pioneers of France," 393.<br /> + <a id="footer_17-21" name="footer_17-21"></a> + <span class="superscript">[21]</span> + He was peculiarly sensitive as regarded the cardinal Jesuit virtue + of obedience; and both Lalemant and Bressani say, that, at the age + of sixty and upwards, he was sometimes seen in tears, when he + imagined that he had not fulfilled to the utmost the commands of + his Superior.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00948"> +The old missionary had for companions two soldiers and a Huron Indian. +They were all on snow-shoes, and the soldiers dragged their baggage on +small sledges. Their highway was the St. Lawrence, transformed to solid +ice, and buried, like all the country, beneath two or three feet of snow, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span> +which, far and near, glared dazzling white under the clear winter sun. +Before night they had walked eighteen miles, and the soldiers, unused to +snow-shoes, were greatly fatigued. They made their camp in the forest, +on the shore of the great expansion of the St. Lawrence called the Lake +of St. Peter,—dug away the snow, heaped it around the spot as a barrier +against the wind, made their fire on the frozen earth in the midst, +and lay down to sleep. At two o'clock in the morning De Nouë awoke. +The moon shone like daylight over the vast white desert of the frozen +lake, with its bordering fir-trees bowed to the ground with snow; and the +kindly thought struck the Father, that he might ease his companions by +going in advance to Fort Richelieu, and sending back men to aid them in +dragging their sledges. He knew the way well. He directed them to +follow the tracks of his snow-shoes in the morning; and, not doubting to +reach the fort before night, left behind his blanket and his flint and +steel. For provisions, he put a morsel of bread and five or six prunes +in his pocket, told his rosary, and set forth.</p> + +<p id="id00949"> +Before dawn the weather changed. The air thickened, clouds hid the moon, +and a snow-storm set in. The traveller was in utter darkness. He lost +the points of the compass, wandered far out on the lake, and when day +appeared could see nothing but the snow beneath his feet, and the myriads +of falling flakes that encompassed him like a curtain, impervious to the +sight. Still he toiled on, winding hither and thither, and at times +unwittingly circling +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span> +back on his own footsteps. At night he dug a hole +in the snow under the shore of an island, and lay down, without fire, +food, or blanket.</p> + +<p id="id00950"> +Meanwhile the two soldiers and the Indian, unable to trace his footprints, +which the snow had hidden, pursued their way for the fort; but the Indian +was ignorant of the country, and the Frenchmen were unskilled. They +wandered from their course, and at evening encamped on the shore of the +island of St. Ignace, at no great distance from De Nouë. Here the Indian, +trusting to his instinct, left them and set forth alone in search of +their destination, which he soon succeeded in finding. The palisades of +the feeble little fort, and the rude buildings within, were whitened with +snow, and half buried in it. Here, amid the desolation, a handful of men +kept watch and ward against the Iroquois. Seated by the blazing logs, +the Indian asked for De Nouë, and, to his astonishment, the soldiers of +the garrison told him that he had not been seen. The captain of the post +was called; all was anxiety; but nothing could be done that night.</p> + +<p id="id00951"> +At daybreak parties went out to search. The two soldiers were readily +found; but they looked in vain for the missionary. All day they were +ranging the ice, firing their guns and shouting; but to no avail, and +they returned disconsolate. There was a converted Indian, whom the +French called Charles, at the fort, one of four who were spending the +winter there. On the next morning, the second of February, he and one of +his companions, together +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span> +with Baron, a French soldier, resumed the +search; and, guided by the slight depressions in the snow which had +fallen on the wanderer's footprints, the quick-eyed savages traced him +through all his windings, found his camp by the shore of the island, +and thence followed him beyond the fort. He had passed near without +discovering it,—perhaps weakness had dimmed his sight,—stopped to rest +at a point a league above, and thence made his way about three leagues +farther. Here they found him. He had dug a circular excavation in the +snow, and was kneeling in it on the earth. His head was bare, his eyes +open and turned upwards, and his hands clasped on his breast. His hat +and his snow-shoes lay at his side. The body was leaning slightly +forward, resting against the bank of snow before it, and frozen to the +hardness of marble.</p> + +<p id="id00952"> +Thus, in an act of kindness and charity, died the first martyr of the +Canadian mission. +<a href="#footer_17-22"><span class="superscript">[22]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00953" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_17-22" name="footer_17-22"></a> + <span class="superscript">[22]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1646</i>, 9; Marie de + l'Incarnation, <i>Lettre, 10 Sept., 1646</i>; + Bressani, <i>Relation Abrégée</i>, 175.</p> + <p id="id00954"> + One of the Indians who found the body of De Nouë was + killed by the Iroquois at Ossossané, in the Huron + country, three years after. He received the death-blow in + a posture like that in which he had seen the dead missionary. + His body was found with the hands still clasped on the + breast.—<i>Lettre de Chaumonot à Lalemant, 1 + Juin, 1649</i>.</p> + <p id="id00955"> + The next death among the Jesuits was that of Masse, who died + at Sillery, on the twelfth of May of this year, 1646, at the + age of seventy-two. He had come with Biard to Acadia as early + as 1611. (See "Pioneers of France," 262.) Lalemant, in the + <i>Relation</i> of 1646, gives an account of him, and speaks + of penances which he imposed on himself, some of which are to + the last degree disgusting.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_18" id="Chapter_18"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00956"><a href="#Contents18">CHAPTER XVIII.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1642-1644.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00957" class="smcapheader">VILLEMARIE.</p> + <p id="id00958" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Infancy of Montreal • The Flood • + Vow of Maisonneuve • Pilgrimage • + D'Ailleboust • The Hôtel-Dieu • Piety • + Propagandism • War • Hurons and Iroquois • + Dogs • Sally of the French • Battle • + Exploit of Maisonneuve + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00960"> +<span class="smcap">Let</span> us now ascend to the island of +Montreal. Here, as we have seen, an association of devout and +zealous persons had essayed to found a mission-colony under the +protection of the Holy Virgin; and we left the adventurers, after +their landing, bivouacked on the shore, on an evening in May. +There was an altar in the open air, decorated with a taste that +betokened no less of good nurture than of piety; and around it +clustered the tents that sheltered the commandant, Maisonneuve, +the two ladies, Madame de la Peltrie and Mademoiselle Mance, and +the soldiers and laborers of the expedition.</p> + +<p id="id00961"> +In the morning they all fell to their work, Maisonneuve hewing down the +first tree,—and labored with such good-will, that their tents were soon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span> +inclosed with a strong palisade, and their altar covered by a provisional +chapel, built, in the Huron mode, of bark. Soon afterward, their canvas +habitations were supplanted by solid structures of wood, and the feeble +germ of a future city began to take root.</p> + +<p id="id00962">The Iroquois had not yet found them out; nor did they discover them till +they had had ample time to fortify themselves. Meanwhile, on a Sunday, +they would stroll at their leisure over the adjacent meadow and in the +shade of the bordering forest, where, as the old chronicler tells us, +the grass was gay with wild-flowers, and the branches with the flutter +and song of many strange birds. +<a href="#footer_18-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-1" name="footer_18-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Dollier de Casson, MS. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00963"> +The day of the Assumption of the Virgin was celebrated with befitting +solemnity. There was mass in their bark chapel; then a Te Deum; then +public instruction of certain Indians who chanced to be at Montreal; then +a procession of all the colonists after vespers, to the admiration of the +redskinned beholders. Cannon, too, were fired, in honor of their +celestial patroness. "Their thunder made all the island echo," writes +Father Vimont; "and the demons, though used to thunderbolts, were scared +at a noise which told them of the love we bear our great Mistress; and I +have scarcely any doubt that the tutelary angels of the savages of New +France have marked this day in the calendar of Paradise." +<a href="#footer_18-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-2" name="footer_18-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1642</i>, 38. Compare Le Clerc, + <i>Premier Etablissement de la Foy</i>, II. 51.<br /> +</p> +</div> + + +<p id="id00964"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span> +The summer passed prosperously, but with the winter their faith was put +to a rude test. In December, there was a rise of the St. Lawrence, +threatening to sweep away in a night the results of all their labor. +They fell to their prayers; and Maisonneuve planted a wooden cross in +face of the advancing deluge, first making a vow, that, should the peril +be averted, he, Maisonneuve, would bear another cross on his shoulders up +the neighboring mountain, and place it on the summit. The vow seemed in +vain. The flood still rose, filled the fort ditch, swept the foot of the +palisade, and threatened to sap the magazine; but here it stopped, +and presently began to recede, till at length it had withdrawn within its +lawful channel, and Villemarie was safe. +<a href="#footer_18-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00965" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-3" name="footer_18-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + A little MS. map in M. Jacques Viger's copy of + <i>Le Petit Registre de la Cure de Montreal</i>, + lays down the position and shape of the fort at + this time, and shows the spot where Maisonneuve + planted the cross.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00966"> +Now it remained to fulfil the promise from which such happy results had +proceeded. Maisonneuve set his men at work to clear a path through the +forest to the top of the mountain. A large cross was made, and solemnly +blessed by the priest; then, on the sixth of January, the Jesuit Du Peron +led the way, followed in procession by Madame de la Peltrie, the artisans, +and soldiers, to the destined spot. The commandant, who with all the +ceremonies of the Church had been declared First Soldier of the Cross, +walked behind the rest, bearing on his shoulder a cross so heavy that it +needed his utmost strength to climb the steep and rugged +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span> +path. They +planted it on the highest crest, and all knelt in adoration before it. +Du Peron said mass; and Madame de la Peltrie, always romantic and always +devout, received the sacrament on the mountain-top, a spectacle to the +virgin world outstretched below. Sundry relics of saints had been set +in the wood of the cross, which remained an object of pilgrimage to the +pious colonists of Villemarie. +<a href="#footer_18-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-4" name="footer_18-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1643</i>, 52, 53.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00967"> +Peace and harmony reigned within the little fort; and so edifying was the +demeanor of the colonists, so faithful were they to the confessional, +and so constant at mass, that a chronicler of the day exclaims, in a +burst of enthusiasm, that the deserts lately a resort of demons were now +the abode of angels. +<a href="#footer_18-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +The two Jesuits who for the time were their pastors had them well +in hand. They dwelt under the same roof with most of their flock, +who lived in community, in one large house, and vied with each other in +zeal for the honor of the Virgin and the conversion of the Indians.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-5" name="footer_18-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + <i>Véritables Motifs</i>, cited by Faillon, I. + 453, 454. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00968"> +At the end of August, 1643, a vessel arrived at Villemarie with a +reinforcement commanded by Louis d'Ailleboust de Coulonges, a pious +gentleman of Champagne, and one of the Associates of Montreal. +<a href="#footer_18-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +Some years before, he had asked in +wedlock the hand of Barbe de Boulogne; but the young lady had, when a +child, in the ardor of her piety, taken a vow of perpetual chastity. +By the advice +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span> +of her Jesuit confessor, she accepted his suit, on +condition that she should preserve, to the hour of her death, the state +to which Holy Church has always ascribed a peculiar merit. +<a href="#footer_18-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +D'Ailleboust married her; and when, soon after, he conceived the purpose +of devoting his life to the work of the Faith in Canada, he invited his +maiden spouse to go with him. She refused, and forbade him to mention +the subject again. Her health was indifferent, and about this time she +fell ill. As a last resort, she made a promise to God, that, if He would +restore her, she would go to Canada with her husband; and forthwith her +maladies ceased. Still her reluctance continued; she hesitated, and then +refused again, when an inward light revealed to her that it was her duty +to cast her lot in the wilderness. She accordingly embarked with +d'Ailleboust, accompanied by her sister, Mademoiselle Philippine de +Boulogne, who had caught the contagion of her zeal. The presence of +these damsels would, to all appearance, be rather a burden than a profit +to the colonists, beset as they then were by Indians, and often in peril +of starvation; but the spectacle of their ardor, as disinterested as it +was extravagant, would serve to exalt the religious enthusiasm in which +alone was the life of Villemarie.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00969" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-6" name="footer_18-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + Chaulmer, 101; Juchereau, 91.<br /> + <a id="footer_18-7" name="footer_18-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + Juchereau, <i>Histoire de l'Hôtel-Dieu de + Québec</i>, 276. The confessor told + D'Ailleboust, that, if he persuaded his wife to + break her vow of continence, "God would chastise + him terribly." The nun historian adds, that, + undeterred by the menace, he tried and failed. + <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00970"> +Their vessel passed in safety the Iroquois who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span> +watched the St. Lawrence, +and its arrival filled the colonists with joy. D'Ailleboust was a +skilful soldier, specially versed in the arts of fortification; and, +under his direction, the frail palisades which formed their sole defence +were replaced by solid ramparts and bastions of earth. He brought news +that the "unknown benefactress," as a certain generous member of the +Association of Montreal was called, in ignorance of her name, had given +funds, to the amount, as afterwards appeared, of forty-two thousand +livres, for the building of a hospital at Villemarie. +<a href="#footer_18-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +The source of the gift was +kept secret, from a religious motive; but it soon became known that it +proceeded from Madame de Bullion, a lady whose rank and wealth were +exceeded only by her devotion. It is true that the hospital was not +wanted, as no one was sick at Villemarie, and one or two chambers would +have sufficed for every prospective necessity; but it will be remembered +that the colony had been established in order that a hospital might be +built, and Madame de Bullion would not hear to any other application of +her money. +<a href="#footer_18-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +Instead, therefore, of tilling the land to +supply their own pressing needs, all the laborers of the settlement were +set at this pious, though superfluous, task. +<a href="#footer_18-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +There was no room in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> +the fort, which, moreover, was in danger of inundation; and the hospital +was accordingly built on higher ground adjacent. To leave it unprotected +would be to abandon its inmates to the Iroquois; it was therefore +surrounded by a strong palisade, and, in time of danger, a part of the +garrison was detailed to defend it. Here Mademoiselle Mance took up her +abode, and waited the day when wounds or disease should bring patients to +her empty wards.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00971" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-8" name="footer_18-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + <i>Archives du Séminaire de Villemarie</i>, + cited by Faillon, I. 466. The amount of the gift + was not declared until the next year. <br /> + <a id="footer_18-9" name="footer_18-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + Mademoiselle Mance wrote to her, to urge that the money + should be devoted to the Huron mission; but she absolutely + refused.—Dollier de Casson, MS.<br /> + <a id="footer_18-10" name="footer_18-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + <i>Journal des Supérieurs des + Jésuites</i>, MS.</p> + <p id="id00972"> + The hospital was sixty feet long and twenty-four feet wide, with a + kitchen, a chamber for Mademoiselle Mance, others for servants, and + two large apartments for the patients. It was amply provided with + furniture, linen, medicines, and all necessaries; and had also two + oxen, three cows, and twenty sheep. A small oratory of stone was + built adjoining it. The inclosure was four <i>arpents</i> in + extent.—<i>Archives du Séminaire de Villemarie</i>, + cited by Faillon.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00973"> +Dauversière, who had first conceived this plan of a hospital in the +wilderness, was a senseless enthusiast, who rejected as a sin every +protest of reason against the dreams which governed him; yet one rational +and practical element entered into the motives of those who carried the +plan into execution. The hospital was intended not only to nurse sick +Frenchmen, but to nurse and convert sick Indians; in other words, it was +an engine of the mission.</p> + +<p id="id00974"> +From Maisonneuve to the humblest laborer, these zealous colonists were +bent on the work of conversion. To that end, the ladies made pilgrimages +to the cross on the mountain, sometimes for nine days in succession, +to pray God to gather the heathen into His fold. The fatigue was great; +nor was the danger less; and armed men always escorted them, as a +precaution against the Iroquois. +<a href="#footer_18-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span> +male colonists were +equally fervent; and sometimes as many as fifteen or sixteen persons +would kneel at once before the cross, with the same charitable petition. +<a href="#footer_18-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +The ardor of their zeal may be inferred from the fact, that +these pious expeditions consumed the greater part of the day, when time +and labor were of a value past reckoning to the little colony. Besides +their pilgrimages, they used other means, and very efficient ones, +to attract and gain over the Indians. They housed, fed, and clothed them +at every opportunity; and though they were subsisting chiefly on +provisions brought at great cost from France, there was always a portion +for the hungry savages who from time to time encamped near their fort. +If they could persuade any of them to be nursed, they were consigned to +the tender care of Mademoiselle Mance; and if a party went to war, +their women and children were taken in charge till their return. As this +attention to their bodies had for its object the profit of their souls, +it was accompanied with incessant catechizing. This, with the other +influences of the place, had its effect; and some notable conversions +were made. Among them was that of the renowned chief, Tessouat, or Le +Borgne, as the French called him,—a crafty and intractable savage, whom, +to their own surprise, they succeeded in taming and winning to the Faith. +<a href="#footer_18-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +He was christened with the name of Paul, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span> +his squaw with that of Madeleine. Maisonneuve +rewarded him with a gun, and celebrated the day by a feast to all the +Indians present. +<a href="#footer_18-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00975" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-11" name="footer_18-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + Morin, <i>Annales de l'Hôtel-Dieu de St. Joseph</i>, MS., + cited by Faillon, I. 457.<br /> + <a id="footer_18-12" name="footer_18-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + Marguerite Bourgeoys, <i>Écrits Autographes</i>, MS., + extracts in Faillon, I. 458.<br /> + <a id="footer_18-13" name="footer_18-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1643</i>, 54, 55. Tessouat was chief of + Allumette Island, in the Ottawa. His predecessor, of the same + name, was Champlain's host in 1613.—See "Pioneers of + France," Chap. XII.<br /> + <a id="footer_18-14" name="footer_18-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + It was the usual practice to give guns to converts, "pour + attirer leur compatriotes à la Foy." They were never + given to heathen Indians. "It seems," observes Vimont, "that + our Lord wishes to make use of this method in order that + Christianity may become acceptable in this + country."—<i>Relation, 1643</i>, 71.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00976"> +The French hoped to form an agricultural settlement of Indians in the +neighborhood of Villemarie; and they spared no exertion to this end, +giving them tools, and aiding them to till the fields. They might have +succeeded, but for that pest of the wilderness, the Iroquois, who hovered +about them, harassed them with petty attacks, and again and again drove +the Algonquins in terror from their camps. Some time had elapsed, +as we have seen, before the Iroquois discovered Villemarie; but at length +ten fugitive Algonquins, chased by a party of them, made for the friendly +settlement as a safe asylum; and thus their astonished pursuers became +aware of its existence. They reconnoitred the place, and went back to +their towns with the news. +<a href="#footer_18-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +From that time +forth the colonists had no peace; no more excursions for fishing and +hunting; no more Sunday strolls in woods and meadows. The men went armed +to their work, and returned at the sound of a bell, marching in a compact +body, prepared for an attack.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-15" name="footer_18-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + Dollier de Casson, MS.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00977"> +Early in June, 1643, sixty Hurons came down in canoes for traffic, and, +on reaching the place now called Lachine, at the head of the rapids of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span> +St. Louis, and a few miles above Villemarie, they were amazed at finding +a large Iroquois war-party in a fort hastily built of the trunks and +boughs of trees. Surprise and fright seem to have infatuated them. +They neither fought nor fled, but greeted their inveterate foes as if +they were friends and allies, and, to gain their good graces, told them +all they knew of the French settlement, urging them to attack it, and +promising an easy victory. Accordingly, the Iroquois detached forty of +their warriors, who surprised six Frenchmen at work hewing timber within +a gunshot of the fort, killed three of them, took the remaining three +prisoners, and returned in triumph. The captives were bound with the +usual rigor; and the Hurons taunted and insulted them, to please their +dangerous companions. Their baseness availed them little; for at night, +after a feast of victory, when the Hurons were asleep or off their guard, +their entertainers fell upon them, and killed or captured the greater +part. The rest ran for Villemarie, where, as their treachery was as yet +unknown, they were received with great kindness. +<a href="#footer_18-16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00978" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-16" name="footer_18-16"></a> + <span class="superscript">[16]</span> + I have followed Dollier de Casson. Vimont's account is different. + He says that the Iroquois fell upon the Hurons at the outset, and took + twenty-three prisoners, killing many others; after which they made the + attack at Villemarie.—<i>Relation, 1643</i>, 62.</p> + <p id="id00979"> + Faillon thinks that Vimont was unwilling to publish the treachery of the + Hurons, lest the interests of the Huron mission should suffer in + consequence.</p> + <p id="id00980"> + Belmont, <i>Histoire du Canada</i>, 1643, confirms the account of the + Huron treachery. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00981"> +The next morning the Iroquois decamped, carrying with them their +prisoners, and the furs plundered +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span> +from the Huron canoes. They had taken +also, and probably destroyed, all the letters from the missionaries in +the Huron country, as well as a copy of their <i>Relation</i> of the preceding +year. Of the three French prisoners, one escaped and reached Montreal; +the remaining two were burned alive.</p> + +<p id="id00982"> +At Villemarie it was usually dangerous to pass beyond the ditch of the +fort or the palisades of the hospital. Sometimes a solitary warrior +would lie hidden for days, without sleep and almost without food, behind +a log in the forest, or in a dense thicket, watching like a lynx for some +rash straggler. Sometimes parties of a hundred or more made ambuscades +near by, and sent a few of their number to lure out the soldiers by a +petty attack and a flight. The danger was much diminished, however, +when the colonists received from France a number of dogs, which proved +most efficient sentinels and scouts. Of the instinct of these animals +the writers of the time speak with astonishment. Chief among them was a +bitch named Pilot, who every morning made the rounds of the forests and +fields about the fort, followed by a troop of her offspring. If one of +them lagged behind, she hit him to remind him of his duty; and if any +skulked and ran home, she punished them severely in the same manner on +her return. When she discovered the Iroquois, which she was sure to do +by the scent, if any were near, she barked furiously, and ran at once +straight to the fort, followed by the rest. The Jesuit chronicler adds, +with an amusing <i>naïveté</i>, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> +that, while this was her duty, +"her natural inclination was for hunting squirrels." +<a href="#footer_18-17"><span class="superscript">[17]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00983" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-17" name="footer_18-17"></a> + <span class="superscript">[17]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1647</i>, 74, 75. "Son attrait naturel estoit + la chasse aux écurieux." Dollier de Casson also speaks + admiringly of her and her instinct. Faillon sees in it a manifest + proof of the protecting care of God over Villemarie.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id00984"> +Maisonneuve was as brave a knight of the cross as ever fought in +Palestine for the sepulchre of Christ; but he could temper his valor with +discretion. He knew that he and his soldiers were but indifferent +woodsmen; that their crafty foe had no equal in ambuscades and surprises; +and that, while a defeat might ruin the French, it would only exasperate +an enemy whose resources in men were incomparably greater. Therefore, +when the dogs sounded the alarm, he kept his followers close, and stood +patiently on the defensive. They chafed under this Fabian policy, +and at length imputed it to cowardice. Their murmurings grew louder, +till they reached the ear of Maisonneuve. The religion which animated +him had not destroyed the soldierly pride which takes root so readily and +so strongly in a manly nature; and an imputation of cowardice from his +own soldiers stung him to the quick. He saw, too, that such an opinion +of him must needs weaken his authority, and impair the discipline +essential to the safety of the colony.</p> + +<p id="id00985">On the morning of the thirtieth of March, Pilot was heard barking with +unusual fury in the forest eastward from the fort; and in a few moments +they saw her running over the clearing, where the snow was still deep, +followed by her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span> +brood, all giving tongue together. The excited Frenchmen +flocked about their commander.</p> + +<p id="id00986"> +<i>"Monsieur, les ennemis sont dans le bois; ne les irons-nous jamais voir?"</i> +<a href="#footer_18-18"><span class="superscript">[18]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-18" name="footer_18-18"></a> + <span class="superscript">[18]</span> + Dollier de Casson, MS.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00987"> +Maisonneuve, habitually composed and calm, answered sharply,—</p> + +<p id="id00988"> +"Yes, you shall see the enemy. Get yourselves ready at once, and take +care that you are as brave as you profess to be. I shall lead you +myself."</p> + +<p id="id00989"> +All was bustle in the fort. Guns were loaded, pouches filled, and +snow-shoes tied on by those who had them and knew how to use them. +There were not enough, however, and many were forced to go without them. +When all was ready, Maisonneuve sallied forth at the head of thirty men, +leaving d'Ailleboust, with the remainder, to hold the fort. They crossed +the snowy clearing and entered the forest, where all was silent as the +grave. They pushed on, wading through the deep snow, with the countless +pitfalls hidden beneath it, when suddenly they were greeted with the +screeches of eighty Iroquois, +<a href="#footer_18-19"><span class="superscript">[19]</span></a> +who sprang up from their lurking-places, and showered bullets and +arrows upon the advancing French. +The emergency called, not for chivalry, but for woodcraft; and +Maisonneuve ordered his men to take shelter, like their assailants, +behind trees. They stood their ground resolutely +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span> +for a long time; but +the Iroquois pressed them close, three of their number were killed, +others were wounded, and their ammunition began to fail. Their only +alternatives were destruction or retreat; and to retreat was not easy. +The order was given. Though steady at first, the men soon became +confused, and over-eager to escape the galling fire which the Iroquois +sent after them. Maisonneuve directed them towards a sledge-track which +had been used in dragging timber for building the hospital, and where the +snow was firm beneath the foot. He himself remained to the last, +encouraging his followers and aiding the wounded to escape. The French, +as they struggled through the snow, faced about from time to time, +and fired back to check the pursuit; but no sooner had they reached the +sledge-track than they gave way to their terror, and ran in a body for +the fort. Those within, seeing this confused rush of men from the +distance, mistook them for the enemy; and an over-zealous soldier touched +the match to a cannon which had been pointed to rake the sledge-track. +Had not the piece missed fire, from dampness of the priming, he would +have done more execution at one shot than the Iroquois in all the fight +of that morning.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00990" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-19" name="footer_18-19"></a> + <span class="superscript">[19]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1644</i>, 42. Dollier de Casson says two hundred, + but it is usually safe in these cases to accept the smaller number, + and Vimont founds his statement on the information of an escaped + prisoner.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00991"> +Maisonneuve was left alone, retreating backwards down the track, and +holding his pursuers in check, with a pistol in each hand. They might +easily have shot him; but, recognizing him as the commander of the French, +they were bent on taking him alive. Their chief coveted this honor for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span> +himself, and his followers held aloof to give him the opportunity. +He pressed close upon Maisonneuve, who snapped a pistol at him, which +missed fire. The Iroquois, who had ducked to avoid the shot, rose erect, +and sprang forward to seize him, when Maisonneuve, with his remaining +pistol, shot him dead. Then ensued a curious spectacle, not infrequent +in Indian battles. The Iroquois seemed to forget their enemy, in their +anxiety to secure and carry off the body of their chief; and the French +commander continued his retreat unmolested, till he was safe under the +cannon of the fort. From that day, he was a hero in the eyes of his men. +<a href="#footer_18-20"><span class="superscript">[20]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id00992" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_18-20" name="footer_18-20"></a> + <span class="superscript">[20]</span> + Dollier de Casson, MS. Vimont's mention of the affair is brief. + He says that two Frenchmen were made prisoners, and burned. Belmont, + <i>Histoire du Canada</i>, 1645, gives a succinct account of the fight, + and indicates the scene of it. It seems to have been a little below + the site of the Place d'Armes, on which stands the great Parish + Church of Villemarie, commonly known to tourists as the "Cathedral." + Faillon thinks that Maisonneuve's exploit was achieved on this very + spot.</p> + <p id="id00993"> + Marguerite Bourgeoys also describes the affair in her unpublished + writings.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id00994"> +Quebec and Montreal are happy in their founders. Samuel de Champlain and +Chomedey de Maisonneuve are among the names that shine with a fair and +honest lustre on the infancy of nations.</p> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_19" id="Chapter_19"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id00995"><a href="#Contents19">CHAPTER XIX.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1644, 1645.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id00996" class="smcapheader">PEACE.</p> + <p id="id00997" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Iroquois Prisoners • Piskaret • His Exploits • + More Prisoners • Iroquois Embassy • The Orator • + The Great Council • Speeches of Kiotsaton • + Muster of Savages • Peace Confirmed + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id00999"> +<span class="smcap">In</span> the damp and freshness of a midsummer +morning, when the sun had not yet risen, but when the river and the +sky were red with the glory of approaching day, the inmates of the +fort at Three Rivers were roused by a tumult of joyous and exultant +voices. They thronged to the shore,—priests, soldiers, +traders, and officers, mingled with warriors and shrill-voiced +squaws from Huron and Algonquin camps in the neighboring forest. +Close at hand they saw twelve or fifteen canoes slowly drifting +down the current of the St. Lawrence, manned by eighty young +Indians, all singing their songs of victory, and striking their +paddles against the edges of their bark vessels in cadence with +their voices. Among them three Iroquois prisoners stood upright, +singing loud and defiantly, as men not fearing torture or death.</p> + +<p id="id01000"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span> +A few days before, these young warriors, in part Huron and in part +Algonquin, had gone out on the war-path to the River Richelieu, where +they had presently found themselves entangled among several bands of +Iroquois. They withdrew in the night, after a battle in the dark with +an Iroquois canoe, and, as they approached Fort Richelieu, had the good +fortune to discover ten of their enemy ambuscaded in a clump of bushes +and fallen trees, watching to waylay some of the soldiers on their +morning visit to the fishing-nets in the river hard by. They captured +three of them, and carried them back in triumph.</p> + +<p id="id01001"> +The victors landed amid screams of exultation. Two of the prisoners were +assigned to the Hurons, and the third to the Algonquins, who immediately +took him to their lodges near the fort at Three Rivers, and began the +usual "caress," by burning his feet with red-hot stones, and cutting off +his fingers. Champfleur, the commandant, went out to them with urgent +remonstrances, and at length prevailed on them to leave their victim +without further injury, until Montmagny, the Governor, should arrive. +He came with all dispatch,—not wholly from a motive of humanity, but +partly in the hope that the three captives might be made instrumental in +concluding a peace with their countrymen.</p> + +<p id="id01002"> +A council was held in the fort at Three Rivers. Montmagny made valuable +presents to the Algonquins and the Hurons, to induce them to place the +prisoners in his hands. The Algonquins complied; and the unfortunate +Iroquois, gashed, maimed, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> +scorched, was given up to the French, +who treated him with the greatest kindness. But neither the Governor's +gifts nor his eloquence could persuade the Hurons to follow the example +of their allies; and they departed for their own country with their two +captives,—promising, however, not to burn them, but to use them for +negotiations of peace. With this pledge, scarcely worth the breath that +uttered it, Montmagny was forced to content himself. +<a href="#footer_19-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-1" name="footer_19-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1644</i>, 45-49. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01003"> +Thus it appeared that the fortune of war did not always smile even on the +Iroquois. Indeed, if there is faith in Indian tradition, there had been +a time, scarcely half a century past, when the Mohawks, perhaps the +fiercest and haughtiest of the confederate nations, had been nearly +destroyed by the Algonquins, whom they now held in contempt. +<a href="#footer_19-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +This people, whose inferiority arose chiefly from the want of that +compact organization in which lay the strength of the Iroquois, had not +lost their ancient warlike spirit; and they had one champion of whom even +the audacious confederates stood in awe. His name was Piskaret; and he +dwelt on that great island in the Ottawa of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span> +which Le Borgne was chief. +He had lately turned Christian, in the hope of French favor and +countenance,—always useful to an ambitious Indian,—and perhaps, too, +with an eye to the gun and powder-horn which formed the earthly reward of +the convert. +<a href="#footer_19-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +Tradition tells marvellous stories of his exploits. +Once, it is said, he entered an Iroquois town on a dark night. His first +care was to seek out a hiding-place, and he soon found one in the midst +of a large wood-pile. +<a href="#footer_19-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +Next he crept into a lodge, and, finding the +inmates asleep, killed them with his war-club, took their scalps, and +quietly withdrew to the retreat he had prepared. In the morning a howl +of lamentation and fury rose from the astonished villagers. They ranged +the fields and forests in vain pursuit of the mysterious enemy, who +remained all day in the wood-pile, whence, at midnight, he came forth and +repeated his former exploit. On the third night, every family placed its +sentinels; and Piskaret, stealthily creeping from lodge to lodge, and +reconnoitring each through crevices in the bark, saw watchers everywhere. +At length he descried a sentinel who had fallen asleep near the entrance +of a lodge, though his companion at the other end was still awake and +vigilant. He pushed aside the sheet of bark that served as a door, +struck the sleeper a deadly blow, yelled his war-cry, and fled +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span> +like the +wind. All the village swarmed out in furious chase; but Piskaret was the +swiftest runner of his time, and easily kept in advance of his pursuers. +When daylight came, he showed himself from time to time to lure them on, +then yelled defiance, and distanced them again. At night, all but six +had given over the chase; and even these, exhausted as they were, had +begun to despair. Piskaret, seeing a hollow tree, crept into it like a +bear, and hid himself; while the Iroquois, losing his traces in the dark, +lay down to sleep near by. At midnight he emerged from his retreat, +stealthily approached his slumbering enemies, nimbly brained them all +with his war-club, and then, burdened with a goodly bundle of scalps, +journeyed homeward in triumph. +<a href="#footer_19-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01004" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-2" name="footer_19-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + <i>Relation, 1660</i>, 6 (anonymous).<br /></p> + <p id="id01005"> + Both Perrot and La Potherie recount traditions of the ancient + superiority of the Algonquins over the Iroquois, who formerly, + it is said, dwelt near Montreal and Three Rivers, whence the + Algonquins expelled them. They withdrew, first to the + neighborhood of Lake Erie, then to that of Lake Ontario, their + historic seat. There is much to support the conjecture + that the Indians found by Cartier at Montreal in 1535 were + Iroquois (See "Pioneers of France," 189.) That they belonged to + the same family of tribes is certain. For the traditions + alluded to, see Perrot, 9, 12, 79, and La Potherie, I. 288-295.</p> + <p id="id01006" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-3" name="footer_19-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + "Simon Pieskaret … n'estoit Chrestien qu'en apparence et + par police."—Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1647</i>, 68.—He + afterwards became a convert in earnest.<br /> + <a id="footer_19-4" name="footer_19-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Both the Iroquois and the Hurons collected great quantities of wood + in their villages in the autumn.<br /> + <a id="footer_19-5" name="footer_19-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + This story is told by La Potherie, I. 299, and, more briefly, + by Perrot, 107. La Potherie, writing more than half a century after the + time in question, represents the Iroquois as habitually in awe of the + Algonquins. In this all the contemporary writers contradict him. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01009"> +This is but one of several stories that tradition has preserved of his +exploits; and, with all reasonable allowances, it is certain that the +crafty and valiant Algonquin was the model of an Indian warrior. That +which follows rests on a far safer basis.</p> + +<p id="id01010"> +Early in the spring of 1645, Piskaret, with six other converted Indians, +some of them better Christians than he, set out on a war-party, and, +after dragging their canoes over the frozen St. Lawrence, launched them +on the open stream of the Richelieu. They ascended to Lake Champlain, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span> +and hid themselves in the leafless forests of a large island, watching +patiently for their human prey. One day they heard a distant shot. +"Come, friends," said Piskaret, "let us get our dinner: perhaps it will +be the last, for we must <ins title="Changed die to dine."> +dine</ins> before we run." Having dined to their +contentment, the philosophic warriors prepared for action. One of them +went to reconnoitre, and soon reported that two canoes full of Iroquois +were approaching the island. Piskaret and his followers crouched in the +bushes at the point for which the canoes were making, and, as the +foremost drew near, each chose his mark, and fired with such good effect, +that, of seven warriors, all but one were killed. The survivor jumped +overboard, and swam for the other canoe, where he was taken in. It now +contained eight Iroquois, who, far from attempting to escape, paddled in +haste for a distant part of the shore, in order to land, give battle, +and avenge their slain comrades. But the Algonquins, running through the +woods, reached the landing before them, and, as one of them rose to fire, +they shot him. In his fall he overset the canoe. The water was shallow, +and the submerged warriors, presently finding foothold, waded towards the +shore, and made desperate fight. The Algonquins had the advantage of +position, and used it so well, that they killed all but three of their +enemies, and captured two of the survivors. Next they sought out the +bodies, carefully scalped them, and set out in triumph on their return. +To the credit of their Jesuit teachers, they treated their prisoners with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span> +a forbearance hitherto without example. One of them, who was defiant and +abusive, received a blow to silence him; but no further indignity was +offered to either. +<a href="#footer_19-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01011" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-6" name="footer_19-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + According to Marie de l'Incarnation, <i>Lettre, 14 Sept., 1645</i>, + Piskaret was for torturing the captives; but a convert, named + Bernard by the French, protested against it.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01012"> +As the successful warriors approached the little mission settlement of +Sillery, immediately above Quebec, they raised their song of triumph, +and beat time with their paddles on the edges of their canoes; while, +from eleven poles raised aloft, eleven fresh scalps fluttered in the +wind. The Father Jesuit and all his flock were gathered on the strand to +welcome them. The Indians fired their guns, and screeched in jubilation; +one Jean Baptiste, a Christian chief of Sillery, made a speech from the +shore; Piskaret replied, standing upright in his canoe; and, to crown the +occasion, a squad of soldiers, marching in haste from Quebec, fired a +salute of musketry, to the boundless delight of the Indians. Much to the +surprise of the two captives, there was no running of the gantlet, +no gnawing off of finger-nails or cutting off of fingers; but the scalps +were hung, like little flags, over the entrances of the lodges, and all +Sillery betook itself to feasting and rejoicing. +<a href="#footer_19-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +One old woman, indeed, came to the Jesuit with a +pathetic appeal: "Oh, my Father! let me caress these prisoners a little: +they have killed, burned, and eaten my father, my husband, and my +children." But the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span> +missionary answered with a lecture on the duty of +forgiveness. +<a href="#footer_19-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-7" name="footer_19-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1645</i>, 19-21.<br /> + <a id="footer_19-8" name="footer_19-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1645</i>, 21, 22.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01013"> +On the next day, Montmagny came to Sillery, and there was a grand council +in the house of the Jesuits. Piskaret, in a solemn harangue, delivered +his captives to the Governor, who replied with a speech of compliment and +an ample gift. The two Iroquois were present, seated with a seeming +imperturbability, but great anxiety of heart; and when at length they +comprehended that their lives were safe, one of them, a man of great size +and symmetry, rose and addressed Montmagny:—</p> + +<p id="id01014"> +"Onontio, +<a href="#footer_19-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +I am saved from the fire; my body is delivered from death. +Onontio, you have given me my life. I thank you for it. I will +never forget it. All my country will be grateful to you. The earth will +be bright; the river calm and smooth; there will be peace and friendship +between us. The shadow is before my eyes no longer. The spirits of my +ancestors slain by the Algonquins have disappeared. Onontio, you are +good: we are bad. But our anger is gone; I have no heart but for peace +and rejoicing." As he said this, he began to dance, holding his hands +upraised, as if apostrophizing the sky. Suddenly he snatched a hatchet, +brandished it for a moment like a madman, and then flung it into the fire, +saying, as he did so, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span> +"Thus I throw down my anger! thus I cast away the +weapons of blood! Farewell, war! Now I am your friend forever!" +<a href="#footer_19-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01015" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-9" name="footer_19-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + <i>Onontio</i>, <i>Great Mountain</i>, a translation of + Montmagny's name. It was the Iroquois name ever after + for the Governor of Canada. In the same manner, + <i>Onas</i>, <i>Feather</i> or <i>Quill</i>, became the + official name of William Penn, and all succeeding + Governors of Pennsylvania. We have seen that the + Iroquois hereditary chiefs had official names, which are + the same to-day that they were at the period of this + narrative.<br /> + <a id="footer_19-10" name="footer_19-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1645</i>, 22, 23. He adds, that, + "if these people are barbarous in deed, they have thoughts + worthy of Greeks and Romans." <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01017"> +The two prisoners were allowed to roam at will about the settlement, +withheld from escaping by an Indian point of honor. Montmagny soon after +sent them to Three Rivers, where the Iroquois taken during the last +summer had remained all winter. Champfleur, the commandant, now received +orders to clothe, equip, and send him home, with a message to his nation +that Onontio made them a present of his life, and that he had still two +prisoners in his hands, whom he would also give them, if they saw fit to +embrace this opportunity of making peace with the French and their Indian +allies.</p> + +<p id="id01018"> +This was at the end of May. On the fifth of July following, the +liberated Iroquois reappeared at Three Rivers, bringing with him two men +of renown, ambassadors of the Mohawk nation. There was a fourth man of +the party, and, as they approached, the Frenchmen on the shore recognized, +to their great delight, Guillaume Couture, the young man captured three +years before with Father Jogues, and long since given up as dead. +In dress and appearance he was an Iroquois. He had gained a great +influence over his captors, and this embassy of peace was due in good +measure to his persuasions. +<a href="#footer_19-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-11" name="footer_19-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + Marie de l'Incarnation, <i>Lettre, 14 Sept., 1645</i>.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01019"> +The chief of the Iroquois, Kiotsaton, a tall savage, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span> +covered from head to +foot with belts of wampum, stood erect in the prow of the sail-boat which +had brought him and his companions from Richelieu, and in a loud voice +announced himself as the accredited envoy of his nation. The boat fired +a swivel, the fort replied with a cannon-shot, and the envoys landed in +state. Kiotsaton and his colleague were conducted to the room of the +commandant, where, seated on the floor, they were regaled sumptuously, +and presented in due course with pipes of tobacco. They had never before +seen anything so civilized, and were delighted with their entertainment. +"We are glad to see you," said Champfleur to Kiotsaton; "you may be sure +that you are safe here. It is as if you were among your own people, +and in your own house."</p> + +<p id="id01020"> +"Tell your chief that he lies," replied the honored guest, addressing the +interpreter.</p> + +<p id="id01021"> +Champfleur, though he probably knew that this was but an Indian mode of +expressing dissent, showed some little surprise; when Kiotsaton, after +tranquilly smoking for a moment, proceeded:— +</p> + +<p> +"Your chief says it is as if +I were in my own country. This is not true; for there I am not so +honored and caressed. He says it is as if I were in my own house; but in +my own house I am some times very ill served, and here you feast me with +all manner of good cheer." From this and many other replies, the French +conceived that they had to do with a man of <i>esprit</i>. +<a href="#footer_19-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-12" name="footer_19-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1645</i>, 24.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01022"> +He undoubtedly belonged to that class of professed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span> +orators who, though +rarely or never claiming the honors of hereditary chieftainship, had +great influence among the Iroquois, and were employed in all affairs of +embassy and negotiation. They had memories trained to an astonishing +tenacity, were perfect in all the conventional metaphors in which the +language of Indian diplomacy and rhetoric mainly consisted, knew by heart +the traditions of the nation, and were adepts in the parliamentary usages, +which, among the Iroquois, were held little less than sacred.</p> + +<p id="id01023"> +The ambassadors were feasted for a week, not only by the French, but also +by the Hurons and Algonquins; and then the grand peace council took +place. Montmagny had come up from Quebec, and with him the chief men of +the colony. It was a bright midsummer day; and the sun beat hot upon the +parched area of the fort, where awnings were spread to shelter the +assembly. On one side sat Montmagny, with officers and others who +attended him. Near him was Vimont, Superior of the Mission, and other +Jesuits,—Jogues among the rest. Immediately before them sat the +Iroquois, on sheets of spruce-bark spread on the ground like mats: for +they had insisted on being near the French, as a sign of the extreme love +they had of late conceived towards them. On the opposite side of the +area were the Algonquins, in their several divisions of the Algonquins +proper, the Montagnais, and the Atticamegues, +<a href="#footer_19-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +sitting, lying, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span> +or squatting on the ground. On the right hand and on the +left were Hurons mingled with Frenchmen. In the midst was a large open +space like the arena of a prize-ring; and here were planted two poles with +a line stretched from one to the other, on which, in due time, were to be hung +the wampum belts that represented the words of the orator. For the +present, these belts were in part hung about the persons of the two +ambassadors, and in part stored in a bag carried by one of them.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01024" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-13" name="footer_19-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + The Atticamegues, or tribe of the White Fish, dwelt in the forests + north of Three Rivers. They much resembled their Montagnais kindred. + <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01025"> +When all was ready, Kiotsaton arose, strode into the open space, and, +raising his tall figure erect, stood looking for a moment at the sun. +Then he gazed around on the assembly, took a wampum belt in his hand, +and began:—</p> + +<p id="id01026"> +"Onontio, give ear. I am the mouth of all my nation. When you listen to +me, you listen to all the Iroquois. There is no evil in my heart. +My song is a song of peace. We have many war-songs in our country; but +we have thrown them all away, and now we sing of nothing but gladness and +rejoicing."</p> + +<p id="id01027"> +Hereupon he began to sing, his countrymen joining with him. He walked to +and fro, gesticulated towards the sky, and seemed to apostrophize the +sun; then, turning towards the Governor, resumed his harangue. First he +thanked him for the life of the Iroquois prisoner released in the spring, +but blamed him for sending him home without company or escort. Then he +led forth the young Frenchman, Guillaume Couture, and tied a wampum belt +to his arm.</p> + +<p id="id01028"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">288</a></span> +"With this," he said, "I give you back this prisoner. I did not say to +him, 'Nephew, take a canoe and go home to Quebec.' I should have been +without sense, had I done so. I should have been troubled in my heart, +lest some evil might befall him. The prisoner whom you sent back to us +suffered every kind of danger and hardship on the way." Here he +proceeded to represent the difficulties of the journey in pantomime, +"so natural," says Father Vimont, "that no actor in France could equal +it." He counterfeited the lonely traveller toiling up some rocky portage +track, with a load of baggage on his head, now stopping as if half spent, +and now tripping against a stone. Next he was in his canoe, vainly +trying to urge it against the swift current, looking around in despair on +the foaming rapids, then recovering courage, and paddling desperately for +his life. "What did you mean," demanded the orator, resuming his +harangue, "by sending a man alone among these dangers? I have not done +so. 'Come, nephew,' I said to the prisoner there before you,"—pointing +to Couture,—"'follow me: I will see you home at the risk of my life.'" +And to confirm his words, he hung another belt on the line.</p> + +<p id="id01029"> +The third belt was to declare that the nation of the speaker had sent +presents to the other nations to recall their war-parties, in view of the +approaching peace. The fourth was an assurance that the memory of the +slain Iroquois no longer stirred the living to vengeance. "I passed near +the place where Piskaret and the Algonquins slew our warriors +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">289</a></span> +in the +spring. I saw the scene of the fight where the two prisoners here were +taken. I passed quickly; I would not look on the blood of my people. +Their bodies lie there still; I turned away my eyes, that I might not be +angry." Then, stooping, he struck the ground and seemed to listen. +"I heard the voice of my ancestors, slain by the Algonquins, crying to me +in a tone of affection, 'My grandson, my grandson, restrain your anger: +think no more of us, for you cannot deliver us from death; think of the +living; rescue them from the knife and the fire.' When I heard these +voices, I went on my way, and journeyed hither to deliver those whom you +still hold in captivity."</p> + +<p id="id01030"> +The fifth, sixth, and seventh belts were to open the passage by water +from the French to the Iroquois, to chase hostile canoes from the river, +smooth away the rapids and cataracts, and calm the waves of the lake. +The eighth cleared the path by land. "You would have said," writes +Vimont, "that he was cutting down trees, hacking off branches, dragging +away bushes, and filling up holes."—"Look!" exclaimed the orator, +when he had ended this pantomime, "the road is open, smooth, and +straight"; and he bent towards the earth, as if to see that no impediment +remained. "There is no thorn, or stone, or log in the way. Now you may +see the smoke of our villages from Quebec to the heart of our country."</p> + +<p id="id01031"> +Another belt, of unusual size and beauty, was to bind the Iroquois, +the French, and their Indian allies together as one man. As he presented +it, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">290</a></span> +the orator led forth a Frenchman and an Algonquin from among his +auditors, and, linking his arms with theirs, pressed them closely to his +sides, in token of indissoluble union.</p> + +<p id="id01032"> +The next belt invited the French to feast with the Iroquois. "Our +country is full of fish, venison, moose, beaver, and game of every kind. +Leave these filthy swine that run about among your houses, feeding on +garbage, and come and eat good food with us. The road is open; there is +no danger."</p> + +<p id="id01033"> +There was another belt to scatter the clouds, that the sun might shine on +the hearts of the Indians and the French, and reveal their sincerity and +truth to all; then others still, to confirm the Hurons in thoughts of +peace. By the fifteenth belt, Kiotsaton declared that the Iroquois had +always wished to send home Jogues and Bressani to their friends, and had +meant to do so; but that Jogues was stolen from them by the Dutch, +and they had given Bressani to them because he desired it. "If he had +but been patient," added the ambassador, "I would have brought him back +myself. Now I know not what has befallen him. Perhaps he is drowned. +Perhaps he is dead." Here Jogues said, with a smile, to the Jesuits near +him, "They had the pile laid to burn me. They would have killed me a +hundred times, if God had not saved my life."</p> + +<p id="id01034"> +Two or three more belts were hung on the line, each with its appropriate +speech; and then the speaker closed his harangue: "I go to spend what +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">291</a></span> +remains of the summer in my own country, in games and dances and +rejoicing for the blessing of peace." He had interspersed his discourse +throughout with now a song and now a dance; and the council ended in a +general dancing, in which Iroquois, Hurons, Algonquins, Montagnais, +Atticamegues, and French, all took part, after their respective fashions.</p> + +<p id="id01035"> +In spite of one or two palpable falsehoods that embellished his oratory, +the Jesuits were delighted with him. "Every one admitted," says Vimont, +"that he was eloquent and pathetic. In short, he showed himself an +excellent actor, for one who has had no instructor but Nature. I +gathered only a few fragments of his speech from the mouth of the +interpreter, who gave us but broken portions of it, and did not translate +consecutively." +<a href="#footer_19-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01036" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-14" name="footer_19-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + Vimont describes the council at length in the <i>Relation</i> + of 1645. Marie de l'Incarnation also describes it in a letter + to her son, of Sept. 14, 1645. She evidently gained her + information from Vimont and the other Jesuits present.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01037"> +Two days after, another council was called, when the Governor gave his +answer, accepting the proffered peace, and confirming his acceptance by +gifts of considerable value. He demanded as a condition, that the Indian +allies of the French should be left unmolested, until their principal +chiefs, who were not then present, should make a formal treaty with the +Iroquois in behalf of their several nations. Piskaret then made a +present to wipe away the remembrance of the Iroquois he had slaughtered, +and the assembly was dissolved.</p> + +<p id="id01038"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">292</a></span> +In the evening, Vimont invited the ambassadors to the mission-house, +and gave each of them a sack of tobacco and a pipe. In return, Kiotsaton +made him a speech: "When I left my country, I gave up my life; I went to +meet death, and I owe it to you that I am yet alive. I thank you that I +still see the sun; I thank you for all your words and acts of kindness; I +thank you for your gifts. You have covered me with them from head to +foot. You left nothing free but my mouth; and now you have stopped that +with a handsome pipe, and regaled it with the taste of the herb we love. +I bid you farewell,—not for a long time, for you will hear from us soon. +Even if we should be drowned on our way home, the winds and the waves +will bear witness to our countrymen of your favors; and I am sure that +some good spirit has gone before us to tell them of the good news that we +are about to bring." +<a href="#footer_19-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-15" name="footer_19-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1645</i>, 28.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01039">On the next day, he and his companion set forth on their return. +Kiotsaton, when he saw his party embarked, turned to the French and +Indians who lined the shore, and said with a loud voice, "Farewell, +brothers! I am one of your relations now." Then turning to the +Governor,—"Onontio, your name will be great over all the earth. When I +came hither, I never thought to carry back my head, I never thought to +come out of your doors alive; and now I return loaded with honors, gifts, +and kindness." "Brothers,"—to the Indians,—"obey Onontio and the +French. Their hearts and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">293</a></span> +their thoughts are good. Be friends with them, +and do as they do. You shall hear from us soon."</p> + +<p id="id01040"> +The Indians whooped and fired their guns; there was a cannon-shot from +the fort; and the sail-boat that bore the distinguished visitors moved on +its way towards the Richelieu.</p> + +<p id="id01041"> +But the work was not done. There must be more councils, speeches, +wampum-belts, and gifts of all kinds,—more feasts, dances, songs, +and uproar. The Indians gathered at Three Rivers were not sufficient in +numbers or in influence to represent their several tribes; and more were +on their way. The principal men of the Hurons were to come down this +year, with Algonquins of many tribes, from the North and the Northwest; +and Kiotsaton had promised that Iroquois ambassadors, duly empowered, +should meet them at Three Rivers, and make a solemn peace with them all, +under the eye of Onontio. But what hope was there that this swarm of +fickle and wayward savages could be gathered together at one time and at +one place,—or that, being there, they could be restrained from cutting +each other's throats? Yet so it was; and in this happy event the Jesuits +saw the interposition of God, wrought upon by the prayers of those pious +souls in France who daily and nightly besieged Heaven with supplications +for the welfare of the Canadian missions. +<a href="#footer_19-16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-16" name="footer_19-16"></a> + <span class="superscript">[16]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1645</i>, 29.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01042"> +First came a band of Montagnais; next followed Nipissings, Atticamegues, +and Algonquins of the Ottawa, their canoes deep-laden with furs. Then, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">294</a></span> +on the tenth of September, appeared the great fleet of the Hurons, +sixty canoes, bearing a host of warriors, among whom the French +recognized the tattered black cassock of Father Jerome Lalemant. There +were twenty French soldiers, too, returning from the Huron country, +whither they had been sent the year before, to guard the Fathers and +their flock.</p> + +<p id="id01043"> +Three Rivers swarmed like an ant-hill with savages. The shore was lined +with canoes; the forests and the fields were alive with busy camps. +The trade was brisk; and in its attendant speeches, feasts, and dances, +there was no respite.</p> + +<p id="id01044"> +But where were the Iroquois? Montmagny and the Jesuits grew very +anxious. In a few days more the concourse would begin to disperse, +and the golden moment be lost. It was a great relief when a canoe +appeared with tidings that the promised embassy was on its way; and yet +more, when, on the seventeenth, four Iroquois approached the shore, and, +in a loud voice, announced themselves as envoys of their nation. The +tumult was prodigious. Montmagny's soldiers formed a double rank, +and the savage rabble, with wild eyes and faces smeared with grease and +paint, stared over the shoulders and between the gun-barrels of the +musketeers, as the ambassadors of their deadliest foe stalked, with +unmoved visages, towards the fort.</p> + +<p id="id01045"> +Now council followed council, with an insufferable prolixity of +speech-making. There were belts to wipe out the memory of the slain; +belts to clear the sky, smooth the rivers, and calm the lakes; a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">295</a></span> +belt to +take the hatchet from the hands of the Iroquois; another to take away +their guns; another to take away their shields; another to wash the +war-paint from their faces; and another to break the kettle in which they +boiled their prisoners. +<a href="#footer_19-17"><span class="superscript">[17]</span></a> +In short, there were belts past numbering, each with its meaning, +sometimes literal, sometimes figurative, but all bearing upon the +great work of peace. At length all was ended. The dances ceased, +the songs and the whoops died away, and the great muster +dispersed,—some to their smoky lodges on the distant shores +of Lake Huron, and some to frozen hunting-grounds in northern +forests.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_19-17" name="footer_19-17"></a> + <span class="superscript">[17]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1645</i>, 34.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01046"> +There was peace in this dark and blood-stained wilderness. The lynx, +the panther, and the wolf had made a covenant of love; but who should be +their surety? A doubt and a fear mingled with the joy of the Jesuit +Fathers; and to their thanksgivings to God they joined a prayer, that the +hand which had given might still be stretched forth to preserve.</p> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_20" id="Chapter_20"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">296</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01047"><a href="#Contents20">CHAPTER XX.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1645, 1646.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01048" class="smcapheader">THE PEACE BROKEN.</p> + <p id="id01049" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Uncertainties • The Mission of Jogues • + He reaches the Mohawks • His Reception • + His Return • His Second Mission • + Warnings of Danger • Rage of the Mohawks • + Murder of Jogues + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01051"> +<span class="smcap">There</span> is little doubt that the +Iroquois negotiators acted, for the moment, in sincerity. +Guillaume Couture, who returned with them and spent the +winter in their towns, saw sufficient proof that they sincerely desired +peace. And yet the treaty had a double defect. First, the wayward, +capricious, and ungoverned nature of the Indian parties to it, on both +sides, made a speedy rupture more than likely. Secondly, in spite of +their own assertion to the contrary, the Iroquois envoys represented, +not the confederacy of the five nations, but only one of these nations, +the Mohawks: for each of the members of this singular league could, +and often did, make peace and war independently of the rest.</p> + +<p id="id01052"> +It was the Mohawks who had made war on the French and their Indian allies +on the lower St. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">297</a></span> +Lawrence. They claimed, as against the other Iroquois, +a certain right of domain to all this region; and though the warriors of +the four upper nations had sometimes poached on the Mohawk preserve, +by murdering both French and Indians at Montreal, they employed their +energies for the most part in attacks on the Hurons, the Upper Algonquins, +and other tribes of the interior. These attacks still continued, +unaffected by the peace with the Mohawks. Imperfect, however, as the +treaty was, it was invaluable, could it but be kept inviolate; and to +this end Montmagny, the Jesuits, and all the colony, anxiously turned +their thoughts. +<a href="#footer_20-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01053" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_20-1" name="footer_20-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + The Mohawks were at this time more numerous, as compared with the other + four nations of the Iroquois, than they were a few years later. They + seem to have suffered more reverses in war than any of the others. + At this time they may be reckoned at six or seven hundred warriors. + A war with the Mohegans, and another with the Andastes, besides their + war with the Algonquins and the French of Canada soon after, told + severely on their strength. The following are estimates of the numbers + of the Iroquois warriors made in 1660 by the author of the + <i>Relation</i> of that year, and by Wentworth Greenhalgh in 1677, + from personal inspection:—<br /> + </p> + <table summary="Iroquois-Warriors" class="iroquois"> + <tbody> + <tr> + <th></th> + <th>1660</th> + <th>1677</th> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Mohawks</td> + <td class="warriors">500</td> + <td class="warriors">300</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Oneidas</td> + <td class="warriors">100</td> + <td class="warriors">200</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Onondagas</td> + <td class="warriors">300</td> + <td class="warriors">350</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Cayugas</td> + <td class="warriors">300</td> + <td class="warriors">300</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Senecas</td> + <td class="warriors">1,000</td> + <td class="warriors">1,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="totals">2,200</td> + <td class="totals">2,150</td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> +</div> + + + +<p id="id01056"> +It was to hold the Mohawks to their faith that Couture had bravely gone +back to winter among them; but an agent of more acknowledged weight was +needed, and Father Isaac Jogues was chosen. No white man, Couture +excepted, knew their language and their character so well. His errand +was half political, half religious; for not only was he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">298</a></span> +to be the bearer +of gifts, wampum-belts, and messages from the Governor, but he was also +to found a new mission, christened in advance with a prophetic +name,—<i>the Mission of the Martyrs</i>.</p> + +<p id="id01057"> +For two years past, Jogues had been at Montreal; and it was here that he +received the order of his Superior to proceed to the Mohawk towns. +At first, nature asserted itself, and he recoiled involuntarily at the +thought of the horrors of which his scarred body and his mutilated hands +were a living memento. +<a href="#footer_20-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +It was a transient weakness; +and he prepared to depart with more than willingness, giving thanks to +Heaven that he had been found worthy to suffer and to die for the saving +of souls and the greater glory of God.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_20-2" name="footer_20-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + <i>Lettre du P. Isaac Jogues au R. P. Jérosme + L'Allemant. Montreal, 2 Mai, 1646</i>. MS.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01058"> +He felt a presentiment that his death was near, and wrote to a friend, +"I shall go, and shall not return." +<a href="#footer_20-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +An Algonquin convert gave him sage +advice. "Say nothing about the Faith at first, for there is nothing so +repulsive, in the beginning, as our doctrine, which seems to destroy +everything that men hold dear; and as your long cassock preaches, as well +as your lips, you had better put on a short coat." Jogues, therefore, +exchanged the uniform of Loyola for a civilian's doublet and hose; "for," +observes his Superior, "one should be all things to all men, that he may +gain them all to Jesus Christ." +<a href="#footer_20-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +It would be well, if the application of the maxim had always been as +harmless.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_20-3" name="footer_20-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + "Ibo et non redibo." <i>Lettre du + P. Jogues au R. P. No date.</i><br /> + <a id="footer_20-4" name="footer_20-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1646</i>, 15.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01059"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">299</a></span> +Jogues left Three Rivers about the middle of May, with the Sieur Bourdon, +engineer to the Governor, two Algonquins with gifts to confirm the peace, +and four Mohawks as guides and escort. He passed the Richelieu and Lake +Champlain, well-remembered scenes of former miseries, and reached the +foot of Lake George on the eve of Corpus Christi. Hence he called the +lake Lac St. Sacrement; and this name it preserved, until, a century +after, an ambitious Irishman, in compliment to the sovereign from whom he +sought advancement, gave it the name it bears. +<a href="#footer_20-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01060" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_20-5" name="footer_20-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + Mr. Shea very reasonably suggests, that a change from <i>Lake + George</i> to <i>Lake Jogues</i> would be equally easy and + appropriate.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01061"> +From Lake George they crossed on foot to the Hudson, where, being greatly +fatigued by their heavy loads of gifts, they borrowed canoes at an +Iroquois fishing station, and descended to Fort Orange. Here Jogues met +the Dutch friends to whom he owed his life, and who now kindly welcomed +and entertained him. After a few days he left them, and ascended the +River Mohawk to the first Mohawk town. Crowds gathered from the +neighboring towns to gaze on the man whom they had known as a scorned and +abused slave, and who now appeared among them as the ambassador of a +power which hitherto, indeed, they had despised, but which in their +present mood they were willing to propitiate.</p> + +<p id="id01062"> +There was a council in one of the lodges; and while his crowded auditory +smoked their pipes, Jogues stood in the midst, and harangued them. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">300</a></span> +He offered in due form the gifts of the Governor, with the wampum belts +and their messages of peace, while at every pause his words were echoed +by a unanimous grunt of applause from the attentive concourse. Peace +speeches were made in return; and all was harmony. When, however, +the Algonquin deputies stood before the council, they and their gifts +were coldly received. The old hate, maintained by traditions of mutual +atrocity, burned fiercely under a thin semblance of peace; and though no +outbreak took place, the prospect of the future was very ominous.</p> + +<p id="id01063"> +The business of the embassy was scarcely finished, when the Mohawks +counselled Jogues and his companions to go home with all despatch, saying, +that, if they waited longer, they might meet on the way warriors of the +four upper nations, who would inevitably kill the two Algonquin deputies, +if not the French also. Jogues, therefore, set out on his return; but +not until, despite the advice of the Indian convert, he had made the +round of the houses, confessed and instructed a few Christian prisoners +still remaining here, and baptized several dying Mohawks. Then he and +his party crossed through the forest to the southern extremity of Lake +George, made bark canoes, and descended to Fort Richelieu, where they +arrived on the twenty seventh of June. +<a href="#footer_20-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_20-6" name="footer_20-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1646</i>, 17.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01064"> +His political errand was accomplished. Now, should he return to the +Mohawks, or should the Mission of the Martyrs be for a time abandoned? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">301</a></span> +Lalemant, who had succeeded Vimont as Superior of the missions, held a +council at Quebec with three other Jesuits, of whom Jogues was one, +and it was determined, that, unless some new contingency should arise, +he should remain for the winter at Montreal. +<a href="#footer_20-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +This was in July. Soon after, the plan was changed, +for reasons which do not appear, and Jogues received orders to repair to +his dangerous post. He set out on the twenty-fourth of August, +accompanied by a young Frenchman named Lalande, and three or four Hurons. +<a href="#footer_20-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +On the way they met +Indians who warned them of a change of feeling in the Mohawk towns, +and the Hurons, alarmed, refused to go farther. Jogues, naturally +perhaps the most timid man of the party, had no thought of drawing back, +and pursued his journey with his young companion, who, like other <i>donnés</i> +of the missions; was scarcely behind the Jesuits themselves in devoted +enthusiasm.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_20-7" name="footer_20-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + <i>Journal des Supérieurs des Jésuites.</i> + MS. <br /> + <a id="footer_20-8" name="footer_20-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + <i>Ibid.</i><br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01065"> +The reported change of feeling had indeed taken place; and the occasion +of it was characteristic. On his previous visit to the Mohawks, Jogues, +meaning to return, had left in their charge a small chest or box. +From the first they were distrustful, suspecting that it contained some +secret mischief. He therefore opened it, and showed them the contents, +which were a few personal necessaries; and having thus, as he thought, +reassured them, locked the box, and left it in their keeping. The Huron +prisoners in the town attempted to make favor with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">302</a></span> +their Iroquois enemies +by abusing their French friends,—declaring them to be sorcerers, who had +bewitched, by their charms and mummeries, the whole Huron nation, and +caused drought, famine, pestilence, and a host of insupportable miseries. +Thereupon, the suspicions of the Mohawks against the box revived with +double force, and they were convinced that famine, the pest, or some +malignant spirit was shut up in it, waiting the moment to issue forth and +destroy them. There was sickness in the town, and caterpillars were +eating their corn: this was ascribed to the sorceries of the Jesuit. +<a href="#footer_20-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +Still they were divided in opinion. Some stood firm for the French; +others were furious against them. Among the Mohawks, three clans or +families were predominant, if indeed they did not compose the entire +nation,—the clans of the Bear, the Tortoise, and the Wolf. +<a href="#footer_20-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +Though, by the nature of their constitution, it was +scarcely possible that these clans should come to blows, so intimately +were they bound together by ties of blood, yet they were often divided on +points of interest or policy; and on this occasion the Bear raged against +the French, and howled for war, while the Tortoise and the Wolf still +clung to the treaty. Among savages, with no government except the +intermittent one of councils, the party of action and violence must +always prevail. The Bear chiefs sang their war-songs, and, followed by +the young men of their own clan, and by such +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">303</a></span> +others as they had infected +with their frenzy, set forth, in two bands, on the war-path.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_20-9" name="footer_20-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + <i>Lettre de Marie de l'Incarnation à son Fils. + Québec, … 1647</i>.<br /> + <a id="footer_20-10" name="footer_20-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + See Introduction. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01066"> +The warriors of one of these bands were making their way through the +forests between the Mohawk and Lake George, when they met Jogues and +Lalande. They seized them, stripped them, and led them in triumph to +their town. Here a savage crowd surrounded them, beating them with +sticks and with their fists. One of them cut thin strips of flesh from +the back and arms of Jogues, saying, as he did so, "Let us see if this +white flesh is the flesh of an oki."—"I am a man like yourselves," +replied Jogues; "but I do not fear death or torture. I do not know why +you would kill me. I come here to confirm the peace and show you the +way to heaven, and you treat me like a dog." +<a href="#footer_20-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a>—"You +shall die to-morrow," cried the rabble. "Take courage, we shall not burn you. +We shall strike you both with a hatchet, and place your heads on the +palisade, that your brothers may see you when we take them prisoners." +<a href="#footer_20-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +The clans of the Wolf and the Tortoise still raised their voices +in behalf of the captive Frenchmen; but the fury of the minority swept +all before it.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01068" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_20-11" name="footer_20-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + <i>Lettre du P. De Quen au R. P. Lallemant; no date</i>. MS.<br /> + <a id="footer_20-12" name="footer_20-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + <i>Lettre de J. Labatie à M. La Montagne, + Fort d'Orange, 30 Oct., 1646. MS.</i><br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01069"> +In the evening,—it was the eighteenth of October,—Jogues, smarting with +his wounds and bruises, was sitting in one of the lodges, when an Indian +entered, and asked him to a feast. To refuse would have been an offence. +He arose and followed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">304</a></span> +the savage, who led him to the lodge of the Bear +chief. Jogues bent his head to enter, when another Indian, standing +concealed within, at the side of the doorway, struck at him with a +hatchet. An Iroquois, called by the French Le Berger, +<a href="#footer_20-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +who seems to +have followed in order to defend him, bravely held out his arm to ward +off the blow; but the hatchet cut through it, and sank into the +missionary's brain. He fell at the feet of his murderer, who at once +finished the work by hacking off his head. Lalande was left in suspense +all night, and in the morning was killed in a similar manner. The bodies +of the two Frenchmen were then thrown into the Mohawk, and their heads +displayed on the points of the palisade which inclosed the town. +<a href="#footer_20-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01070" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_20-13" name="footer_20-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + It has been erroneously stated that this brave attempt to save + Jogues was made by the orator Kiotsaton. Le Berger was one of those who + had been made prisoners by Piskaret, and treated kindly by the French. + In 1648, he voluntarily came to Three Rivers, and gave himself up to a + party of Frenchmen. He was converted, baptized, and carried to France, + where his behavior is reported to have been very edifying, but where he + soon died. "Perhaps he had eaten his share of more than fifty men," + is the reflection of Father Ragueneau, after recounting his exemplary + conduct.—<i>Relation, 1650</i>, 43-48.<br /> + <a id="footer_20-14" name="footer_20-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + In respect to the death of Jogues, the best authority is the letter + of Labatie, before cited. He was the French interpreter at Fort Orange, + and, being near the scene of the murder, took pains to learn the facts. + The letter was inclosed in another written to Montmagny by the Dutch + Governor, Kieft, which is also before me, together with a MS. account, + written from hearsay, by Father Buteux, and a letter of De Quen, cited + above. Compare the <i>Relations</i> of 1647 and 1650.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01072"> +Thus died Isaac Jogues, one of the purest examples of Roman Catholic +virtue which this Western continent has seen. The priests, his +associates, praise his humility, and tell us that it reached the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">305</a></span> +point of +self-contempt,—a crowning virtue in their eyes; that he regarded himself +as nothing, and lived solely to do the will of God as uttered by the lips +of his Superiors. They add, that, when left to the guidance of his own +judgment, his self-distrust made him very slow of decision, but that, +when acting under orders, he knew neither hesitation nor fear. With all +his gentleness, he had a certain warmth or vivacity of temperament; and +we have seen how, during his first captivity, while humbly submitting to +every caprice of his tyrants and appearing to rejoice in abasement, +a derisive word against his faith would change the lamb into the lion, +and the lips that seemed so tame would speak in sharp, bold tones of +menace and reproof.</p> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_21" id="Chapter_21"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">306</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01073"><a href="#Contents21">CHAPTER XXI.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1646, 1647.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01074" class="smcapheader">ANOTHER WAR.</p> + <p id="id01075" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Mohawk Inroads • The Hunters of Men • + The Captive Converts • The Escape of Marie • + Her Story • The Algonquin Prisoner's Revenge • + Her Flight • Terror of the Colonists • + Jesuit Intrepidity + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01077"> +<span class="smcap">The</span> peace was broken, and the +hounds of war turned loose. The contagion spread through all +the Mohawk nation, the war-songs were sung, and the warriors +took the path for Canada. The miserable colonists and their +more miserable allies woke from their dream of peace to a reality of fear +and horror. Again Montreal and Three Rivers were beset with murdering +savages, skulking in thickets and prowling under cover of night, yet, +when it came to blows, displaying a courage almost equal to the ferocity +that inspired it. They plundered and burned Fort Richelieu, which its +small garrison had abandoned, thus leaving the colony without even the +semblance of protection. Before the spring opened, all the fighting men +of the Mohawks took the war-path; but it is clear that many of them still +had little heart for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">307</a></span> +their bloody and perfidious work; for, of these +hardy and all-enduring warriors, two-thirds gave out on the way, and +returned, complaining that the season was too severe. +<a href="#footer_21-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +Two hundred or more kept on, divided +into several bands.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_21-1" name="footer_21-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + <i>Lettre du P. Buteux au R. P. Lalemant</i>. MS.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01078"> +On Ash-Wednesday, the French at Three Rivers were at mass in the chapel, +when the Iroquois, quietly approaching, plundered two houses close to the +fort, containing all the property of the neighboring inhabitants, which +had been brought hither as to a place of security. They hid their booty, +and then went in quest of two large parties of Christian Algonquins +engaged in their winter hunt. Two Indians of the same nation, whom they +captured, basely set them on the trail; and they took up the chase like +hounds on the scent of game. Wrapped in furs or blanket-coats, some with +gun in hand, some with bows and quivers, and all with hatchets, war-clubs, +knives, or swords,—striding on snow-shoes, with bodies half bent, +through the gray forests and the frozen pine-swamps, among wet, black +trunks, along dark ravines and under savage hill-sides, their small, +fierce eyes darting quick glances that pierced the farthest recesses of +the naked woods,—the hunters of men followed the track of their human +prey. At length they descried the bark wigwams of the Algonquin camp. +The warriors were absent; none were here but women and children. The +Iroquois surrounded the huts, and captured all the shrieking inmates. +Then ten of them set out +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">308</a></span> +to find the traces of the absent hunters. +They soon met the renowned Piskaret returning alone. As they recognized +him and knew his mettle, they thought treachery better than an open +attack. They therefore approached him in the attitude of friends; while +he, ignorant of the rupture of the treaty, began to sing his peace-song. +Scarcely had they joined him, when one of them ran a sword through his +body; and, having scalped him, they returned in triumph to their +companions. +<a href="#footer_21-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +All the hunters were soon after waylaid, overpowered +by numbers, and killed or taken prisoners.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01079" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_21-2" name="footer_21-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1647</i>, 4. Marie de l'Incarnation, + <i>Lettre à son Fils. Québec, … 1647</i>. + Perrot's account, drawn from tradition, is different, though + not essentially so. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01080"> +Another band of the Mohawks had meanwhile pursued the other party of +Algonquins, and overtaken them on the march, as, incumbered with their +sledges and baggage, they were moving from one hunting-camp to another. +Though taken by surprise, they made fight, and killed several of their +assailants; but in a few moments their resistance was overcome, and those +who survived the fray were helpless in the clutches of the enraged +victors. Then began a massacre of the old, the disabled, and the infants, +with the usual beating, gashing, and severing of fingers to the rest. +The next day, the two bands of Mohawks, each with its troop of captives +fast bound, met at an appointed spot on the Lake of St. Peter, and +greeted each other with yells of exultation, with which mingled +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">309</a></span> +a wail of +anguish, as the prisoners of either party recognized their companions in +misery. They all kneeled in the midst of their savage conquerors, +and one of the men, a noted convert, after a few words of exhortation, +repeated in a loud voice a prayer, to which the rest responded. Then +they sang an Algonquin hymn, while the Iroquois, who at first had stared +in wonder, broke into laughter and derision, and at length fell upon them +with renewed fury. One was burned alive on the spot. Another tried to +escape, and they burned the soles of his feet that he might not repeat +the attempt. Many others were maimed and mangled; and some of the women +who afterwards escaped affirmed, that, in ridicule of the converts, +they crucified a small child by nailing it with wooden spikes against a +thick sheet of bark.</p> + +<p id="id01081"> +The prisoners were led to the Mohawk towns; and it is needless to repeat +the monotonous and revolting tale of torture and death. The men, as +usual, were burned; but the lives of the women and children were spared, +in order to strengthen the conquerors by their adoption,—not, however, +until both, but especially the women, had been made to endure the +extremes of suffering and indignity. Several of them from time to time +escaped, and reached Canada with the story of their woes. Among these +was Marie, the wife of Jean Baptiste, one of the principal Algonquin +converts, captured and burned with the rest. Early in June, she appeared +in a canoe at Montreal, where Madame d'Ailleboust, to whom she was well +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">310</a></span> +known, received her with great kindness, and led her to her room in the +fort. Here Marie was overcome with emotion. Madame d'Ailleboust spoke +Algonquin with ease; and her words of sympathy, joined to the +associations of a place where the unhappy fugitive, with her murdered +husband and child, had often found a friendly welcome, so wrought upon +her, that her voice was smothered with sobs.</p> + +<p id="id01082"> +She had once before been a prisoner of the Iroquois, at the town of +Onondaga. When she and her companions in misfortune had reached the +Mohawk towns, she was recognized by several Onondagas who chanced to be +there, and who, partly by threats and partly by promises, induced her to +return with them to the scene of her former captivity, where they assured +her of good treatment. With their aid, she escaped from the Mohawks, +and set out with them for Onondaga. On their way, they passed the great +town of the Oneidas; and her conductors, fearing that certain Mohawks who +were there would lay claim to her, found a hiding-place for her in the +forest, where they gave her food, and told her to wait their return. +She lay concealed all day, and at night approached the town, under cover +of darkness. A dull red glare of flames rose above the jagged tops of +the palisade that encompassed it; and, from the pandemonium within, +an uproar of screams, yells, and bursts of laughter told her that they +were burning one of her captive countrymen. She gazed and listened, +shivering with cold and aghast with horror. The thought +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">311</a></span> +possessed her +that she would soon share his fate, and she resolved to fly. The ground +was still covered with snow, and her footprints would infallibly have +betrayed her, if she had not, instead of turning towards home, followed +the beaten Indian path westward. She journeyed on, confused and +irresolute, and tortured between terror and hunger. At length she +approached Onondaga, a few miles from the present city of Syracuse, +and hid herself in a dense thicket of spruce or cedar, whence she crept +forth at night, to grope in the half-melted snow for a few ears of corn, +left from the last year's harvest. She saw many Indians from her +lurking-place, and once a tall savage, with an axe on his shoulder, +advanced directly towards the spot where she lay: but, in the extremity +of her fright, she murmured a prayer, on which he turned and changed his +course. The fate that awaited her, if she remained,—for a fugitive +could not hope for mercy,—and the scarcely less terrible dangers of the +pitiless wilderness between her and Canada, filled her with despair, +for she was half dead already with hunger and cold. She tied her girdle +to the bough of a tree, and hung herself from it by the neck. The cord +broke. She repeated the attempt with the same result, and then the +thought came to her that God meant to save her life. The snow by this +time had melted in the forests, and she began her journey for home, +with a few handfuls of corn as her only provision. She directed her +course by the sun, and for food dug roots, peeled the soft inner bark of +trees, and sometimes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">312</a></span> +caught tortoises in the muddy brooks. She had the +good fortune to find a hatchet in a deserted camp, and with it made one +of those wooden implements which the Indians used for kindling fire by +friction. This saved her from her worst suffering; for she had no +covering but a thin tunic, which left her legs and arms bare, and exposed +her at night to tortures of cold. She built her fire in some deep nook +of the forest, warmed herself, cooked what food she had found, told her +rosary on her fingers, and slept till daylight, when she always threw +water on the embers, lest the rising smoke should attract attention. +Once she discovered a party of Iroquois hunters; but she lay concealed, +and they passed without seeing her. She followed their trail back, +and found their bark canoe, which they had hidden near the bank of a +river. It was too large for her use; but, as she was a practised +canoe-maker, she reduced it to a convenient size, embarked in it, and +descended the stream. At length she reached the St. Lawrence, and +paddled with the current towards Montreal. On islands and rocky shores +she found eggs of water-fowl in abundance; and she speared fish with a +sharpened pole, hardened at the point with fire. She even killed deer, +by driving them into the water, chasing them in her canoe, and striking +them on the head with her hatchet. When she landed at Montreal, her +canoe had still a good store of eggs and dried venison. +<a href="#footer_21-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01083" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_21-3" name="footer_21-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + This story is taken from the <i>Relation</i> of 1647, and the + letter of Marie de l'Incarnation to her son, before cited. + The woman must have + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">313</a></span> + descended the great rapids of Lachine in + her canoe: a feat demanding no ordinary nerve and skill.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01084"> +Her journey from Onondaga had occupied about two months, under hardships +which no woman but a squaw could have survived. Escapes not less +remarkable of several other women are chronicled in the records of this +year; and one of them, with a notable feat of arms which attended it, +calls for a brief notice.</p> + +<p id="id01085"> +Eight Algonquins, in one of those fits of desperate valor which sometimes +occur in Indians, entered at midnight a camp where thirty or forty +Iroquois warriors were buried in sleep, and with quick, sharp blows of +their tomahawks began to brain them as they lay. They killed ten of them +on the spot, and wounded many more. The rest, panic-stricken and +bewildered by the surprise and the thick darkness, fled into the forest, +leaving all they had in the hands of the victors, including a number of +Algonquin captives, of whom one had been unwittingly killed by his +countrymen in the confusion. Another captive, a woman, had escaped on a +previous night. They had stretched her on her back, with limbs extended, +and bound her wrists and ankles to four stakes firmly driven into the +earth,—their ordinary mode of securing prisoners. Then, as usual, +they all fell asleep. She presently became aware that the cord that +bound one of her wrists was somewhat loose, and, by long and painful +efforts, she freed her hand. To release the other hand and her feet was +then comparatively easy. She cautiously rose. Around her, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">314</a></span> +breathing in +deep sleep, lay stretched the dark forms of the unconscious warriors, +scarcely visible in the gloom. She stepped over them to the entrance of +the hut; and here, as she was passing out, she descried a hatchet on the +ground. The temptation was too strong for her Indian nature. She seized +it, and struck again and again, with all her force, on the skull of the +Iroquois who lay at the entrance. The sound of the blows, and the +convulsive struggles of the victim, roused the sleepers. They sprang up, +groping in the dark, and demanding of each other what was the matter. +At length they lighted a roll of birch-bark, found their prisoner gone +and their comrade dead, and rushed out in a rage in search of the +fugitive. She, meanwhile, instead of running away, had hid herself in +the hollow of a tree, which she had observed the evening before. Her +pursuers ran through the dark woods, shouting and whooping to each other; +and when all had passed, she crept from her hiding-place, and fled in an +opposite direction. In the morning they found her tracks and followed +them. On the second day they had overtaken and surrounded her, when, +hearing their cries on all sides, she gave up all hope. But near at hand, +in the thickest depths of the forest, the beavers had dammed a brook and +formed a pond, full of gnawed stumps, dead fallen trees, rank weeds, +and tangled bushes. She plunged in, and, swimming and wading, found a +hiding-place, where her body was concealed by the water, and her head by +the masses of dead and living vegetation. Her pursuers were at +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">315</a></span> +fault, +and, after a long search, gave up the chase in despair. Shivering, naked, +and half-starved, she crawled out from her wild asylum, and resumed her +flight. By day, the briers and bushes tore her unprotected limbs; by +night, she shivered with cold, and the mosquitoes and small black gnats +of the forest persecuted her with torments which the modern sportsman +will appreciate. She subsisted on such roots, bark, reptiles, or other +small animals, as her Indian habits enabled her to gather on her way. +She crossed streams by swimming, or on rafts of driftwood, lashed +together with strips of linden-bark; and at length reached the +St. Lawrence, where, with the aid of her hatchet, she made a canoe. +Her home was on the Ottawa, and she was ignorant of the great river, or, +at least, of this part of it. She had scarcely even seen a Frenchman, +but had heard of the French as friends, and knew that their dwellings +were on the banks of the St. Lawrence. This was her only guide; and she +drifted on her way, doubtful whether the vast current would bear her to +the abodes of the living or to the land of souls. She passed the watery +wilderness of the Lake of St. Peter, and presently descried a Huron +canoe. Fearing that it was an enemy, she hid herself, and resumed her +voyage in the evening, when she soon came in sight of the wooden +buildings and palisades of Three Rivers. Several Hurons saw her at the +same moment, and made towards her; on which she leaped ashore and hid in +the bushes, whence, being entirely without clothing, she would +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">316</a></span> +not come +out till one of them threw her his coat. Having wrapped herself in it, +she went with them to the fort and the house of the Jesuits, in a +wretched state of emaciation, but in high spirits at the happy issue of +her voyage. <a href="#footer_21-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_21-4" name="footer_21-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1647</i>, 15, 16. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01086"> +Such stories might be multiplied; but these will suffice. Nor is it +necessary to dwell further on the bloody record of inroads, butcheries, +and tortures. We have seen enough to show the nature of the scourge that +now fell without mercy on the Indians and the French of Canada. There +was no safety but in the imprisonment of palisades and ramparts. A deep +dejection sank on the white and red men alike; but the Jesuits would not +despair.</p> + +<p id="id01087"> +"Do not imagine," writes the Father Superior, "that the rage of the +Iroquois, and the loss of many Christians and many catechumens, can bring +to nought the mystery of the cross of Jesus Christ, and the efficacy of +his blood. We shall die; we shall be captured, burned, butchered: be it +so. Those who die in their beds do not always die the best death. +I see none of our company cast down. On the contrary, they ask leave to +go up to the Hurons, and some of them protest that the fires of the +Iroquois are one of their motives for the journey." +<a href="#footer_21-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01088" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_21-5" name="footer_21-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1647</i>, 8. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_22" id="Chapter_22"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">317</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01089"><a href="#Contents22">CHAPTER XXII.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1645-1651.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01090" class="smcapheader">PRIEST AND PURITAN.</p> + <p id="id01091" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Miscou • Tadoussac • Journeys of De Quen • + Druilletes • His Winter with the Montagnais • + Influence of the Missions • The Abenaquis • + Druilletes on the Kennebec • His Embassy to Boston • + Gibbons • Dudley • Bradford • Eliot • + Endicott • French and Puritan Colonization • + Failure of Druilletes's Embassy • New Regulations • + New-Year's Day at Quebec. + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01092"> +<span class="smcap">Before</span> passing to the closing scenes +of this wilderness drama, we will +touch briefly on a few points aside from its main action, yet essential +to an understanding of the scope of the mission. Besides their +establishments at Quebec, Sillery, Three Rivers, and the neighborhood of +Lake Huron, the Jesuits had an outlying post at the island of Miscou, +on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, near the entrance of the Bay of Chaleurs, +where they instructed the wandering savages of those shores, and +confessed the French fishermen. The island was unhealthy in the extreme. +Several of the priests sickened and died; and scarcely one convert repaid +their toils. There was a more successful +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">318</a></span> +mission at Tadoussac, or +Sadilege, as the neighboring Indians called it. In winter, this place +was a solitude; but in summer, when the Montagnais gathered from their +hunting-grounds to meet the French traders, Jesuits came yearly from +Quebec to instruct them in the Faith. Some times they followed them +northward, into wilds where, at this day, a white man rarely penetrates. +Thus, in 1646, De Quen ascended the Saguenay, and, by a series of rivers, +torrents, lakes, and rapids, reached a Montagnais horde called the Nation +of the Porcupine, where he found that the teachings at Tadoussac had +borne fruit, and that the converts had planted a cross on the borders of +the savage lake where they dwelt. There was a kindred band, the Nation +of the White Fish, among the rocks and forests north of Three Rivers. +They proved tractable beyond all others, threw away their "medicines" +or fetiches, burned their magic drums, renounced their medicine-songs, +and accepted instead rosaries, crucifixes, and versions of Catholic hymns.</p> + +<p id="id01093"> +In a former chapter, we followed Father Paul Le Jeune on his winter +roamings, with a band of Montagnais, among the forests on the northern +boundary of Maine. Now Father Gabriel Druilletes sets forth on a similar +excursion, but with one essential difference. Le Jeune's companions were +heathen, who persecuted him day and night with their gibes and sarcasms. +Those of Druilletes were all converts, who looked on him as a friend and +a father. There were prayers, confessions, masses, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">319</a></span> +and invocations of +St. Joseph. They built their bark chapel at every camp, and no festival +of the Church passed unobserved. On Good Friday they laid their best +robe of beaver-skin on the snow, placed on it a crucifix, and knelt +around it in prayer. What was their prayer? It was a petition for the +forgiveness and the conversion of their enemies, the Iroquois. +<a href="#footer_22-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +Those who know the intensity and tenacity of an +Indian's hatred will see in this something more than a change from one +superstition to another. An idea had been presented to the mind of the +savage, to which he had previously been an utter stranger. This is the +most remarkable record of success in the whole body of the Jesuit +<i>Relations</i>; but it is very far from being the only evidence, that, in +teaching the dogmas and observances of the Roman Church, the missionaries +taught also the morals of Christianity. When we look for the results of +these missions, we soon become aware that the influence of the French and +the Jesuits extended far beyond the circle of converts. It eventually +modified and softened the manners of many unconverted tribes. In the +wars of the next century we do not often find those examples of diabolic +atrocity with which the earlier annals are crowded. The savage burned +his enemies alive, it is true, but he rarely ate them; neither did he +torment them with the same deliberation and persistency. He was a savage +still, but not so often a devil. The improvement was not great, but it +was distinct; and it seems to have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">320</a></span> +taken place wherever Indian tribes +were in close relations with any respectable community of white men. +Thus Philip's war in New England, cruel as it was, was less ferocious, +judging from Canadian experience, than it would have been, if a +generation of civilized intercourse had not worn down the sharpest +asperities of barbarism. Yet it was to French priests and colonists, +mingled as they were soon to be among the tribes of the vast interior, +that the change is chiefly to be ascribed. In this softening of manners, +such as it was, and in the obedient Catholicity of a few hundred tamed +savages gathered at stationary missions in various parts of Canada, +we find, after a century had elapsed, all the results of the heroic toil +of the Jesuits. The missions had failed, because the Indians had ceased +to exist. Of the great tribes on whom rested the hopes of the early +Canadian Fathers, nearly all were virtually extinct. The missionaries +built laboriously and well, but they were doomed to build on a failing +foundation. The Indians melted away, not because civilization destroyed +them, but because their own ferocity and intractable indolence made it +impossible that they should exist in its presence. Either the plastic +energies of a higher race or the servile pliancy of a lower one would, +each in its way, have preserved them: as it was, their extinction was a +foregone conclusion. As for the religion which the Jesuits taught them, +however Protestants may carp at it, it was the only form of Christianity +likely to take root in their crude and barbarous nature.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-1" name="footer_22-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1645</i>, 16. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01094"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">321</a></span> +To return to Druilletes. The smoke of the wigwam blinded him; and it is +no matter of surprise to hear that he was cured by a miracle. He +returned from his winter roving to Quebec in high health, and soon set +forth on a new mission. On the River Kennebec, in the present State of +Maine, dwelt the Abenaquis, an Algonquin people, destined hereafter to +become a thorn in the sides of the New-England colonists. Some of them +had visited their friends, the Christian Indians of Sillery. Here they +became converted, went home, and preached the Faith to their countrymen, +and this to such purpose that the Abenaquis sent to Quebec to ask for a +missionary. Apart from the saving of souls, there were solid reasons for +acceding to their request. The Abenaquis were near the colonies of New +England,—indeed, the Plymouth colony, under its charter, claimed +jurisdiction over them; and in case of rupture, they would prove +serviceable friends or dangerous enemies to New France. +<a href="#footer_22-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> + Their messengers were +favorably received; and Druilletes was ordered to proceed upon the new +mission.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-2" name="footer_22-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Charlevoix, I. 280, gives this as a motive of the mission.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01095"> +He left Sillery, with a party of Indians, on the twenty-ninth of August, +1646, +<a href="#footer_22-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> + and following, as it seems, +the route by which, a hundred and twenty-nine years later, the soldiers +of Arnold made their way to Quebec, he reached the waters of the Kennebec +and descended to the Abenaqui villages. Here he nursed the sick, +baptized the dying, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">322</a></span> +gave such instruction as, in his ignorance of the +language, he was able. Apparently he had been ordered to reconnoitre; +for he presently descended the river from Norridgewock to the first +English trading-post, where Augusta now stands. Thence he continued his +journey to the sea, and followed the coast in a canoe to the Penobscot, +visiting seven or eight English posts on the way, where, to his surprise, +he was very well received. At the Penobscot he found several Capuchin +friars, under their Superior, Father Ignace, who welcomed him with the +utmost cordiality. Returning, he again ascended the Kennebec to the +English post at Augusta. At a spot three miles above the Indians had +gathered in considerable numbers, and here they built him a chapel after +their fashion. He remained till midwinter, catechizing and baptizing, +and waging war so successfully against the Indian sorcerers, that +medicine-bags were thrown away, and charms and incantations were +supplanted by prayers. In January the whole troop set off on their grand +hunt, Druilletes following them,—"with toil," says the chronicler, +"too great to buy the kingdoms of this world, but very small as a price +for the Kingdom of Heaven." +<a href="#footer_22-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> + They encamped on Moosehead Lake, where new disputes with the +"medicine-men" ensued, and the Father again remained master of the field. +When, after a prosperous hunt, the party returned to the English +trading-house, John Winslow, the agent in charge, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">323</a></span> +again received the +missionary with a kindness which showed no trace of jealousy or religious +prejudice. +<a href="#footer_22-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01096" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-3" name="footer_22-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1647</i>, 51.<br /> + <a id="footer_22-4" name="footer_22-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1647</i>, 54. For an account of this + mission, see also Maurault, <i>Histoire des Abenakis</i>, + 116-156.<br /> + <a id="footer_22-5" name="footer_22-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + Winslow would scarcely have recognized his own name in the Jesuit + spelling,—"Le Sieur de <i>Houinslaud</i>." In his journal + of 1650 Druilletes is more successful in his orthography, and + spells it <i>Winslau</i>.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01097"> +Early in the summer Druilletes went to Quebec; and during the two +following years, the Abenaquis, for reasons which are not clear, were +left without a missionary. He spent another winter of extreme hardship +with the Algonquins on their winter rovings, and during summer instructed +the wandering savages of Tadoussac. It was not until the autumn of 1650 +that he again descended the Kennebec. This time he went as an envoy +charged with the negotiation of a treaty. His journey is worthy of +notice, since, with the unimportant exception of Jogues's embassy to the +Mohawks, it is the first occasion on which the Canadian Jesuits appear in +a character distinctly political. Afterwards, when the fervor and +freshness of the missions had passed away, they frequently did the work +of political agents among the Indians: but the Jesuit of the earlier +period was, with rare exceptions, a missionary only; and though he was +expected to exert a powerful influence in gaining subjects and allies for +France, he was to do so by gathering them under the wings of the Church.</p> + +<p id="id01098"> +The Colony of Massachusetts had applied to the French officials at Quebec, +with a view to a reciprocity of trade. The Iroquois had brought Canada +to extremity, and the French Governor conceived the hope of gaining the +powerful support of New +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">324</a></span> +England by granting the desired privileges on +condition of military aid. But, as the Puritans would scarcely see it +for their interest to provoke a dangerous enemy, who had thus far never +molested them, it was resolved to urge the proposed alliance as a point +of duty. The Abenaquis had suffered from Mohawk inroads; and the French, +assuming for the occasion that they were under the jurisdiction of the +English colonies, argued that they were bound to protect them. +Druilletes went in a double character,—as an envoy of the government at +Quebec, and as an agent of his Abenaqui flock, who had been advised to +petition for English assistance. The time seemed inauspicious for a +Jesuit visit to Boston; for not only had it been announced as foremost +among the objects in colonizing New England, "to raise a bulwark against +the kingdom of Antichrist, which the Jesuits labor to rear up in all +places of the world," +<a href="#footer_22-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +but, three years before, the Legislature of +Massachusetts had enacted, that Jesuits entering the colony should be +expelled, and, if they returned, hanged. +<a href="#footer_22-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01099" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-6" name="footer_22-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + <i>Considerations for the Plantation in New England</i>.—See + Hutchinson, <i>Collection</i>, 27. Mr. Savage thinks that this paper + was by Winthrop. See Savage's Winthrop. I. 360, <i>note</i>.<br /> + <a id="footer_22-7" name="footer_22-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + See the Act, in Hazard, 550. + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01101"> +<a id="id01101a" name="id01101a"></a> +Nevertheless, on the first of September, Druilletes set forth from Quebec +with a Christian chief of Sillery, crossed forests, mountains, and +torrents, and reached Norridgewock, the highest Abenaqui settlement on +the Kennebec. Thence he descended to the English trading-house at +Augusta, where his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">325</a></span> +fast friend, the Puritan Winslow, gave him a warm +welcome, entertained him hospitably, and promised to forward the object +of his mission. He went with him, at great personal inconvenience, +to Merrymeeting Bay, where Druilletes embarked in an English vessel for +Boston. The passage was stormy, and the wind ahead. He was forced to +land at Cape Ann, or, as he calls it, <i>Kepane</i>, whence, partly on foot, +partly in boats along the shore, he made his way to Boston. The +three-hilled city of the Puritans lay chill and dreary under a December +sky, as the priest crossed in a boat from the neighboring peninsula of +Charlestown.</p> + +<p id="id01102"> +Winslow was agent for the merchant, Edward Gibbons, a personage of note, +whose life presents curious phases,—a reveller of Merry Mount, a bold +sailor, a member of the church, an adventurous trader, an associate of +buccaneers, a magistrate of the commonwealth, and a major-general. +<a href="#footer_22-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +The Jesuit, with credentials from the Governor of Canada and letters from +Winslow, met a reception widely different from that which the law +enjoined against persons of his profession. +<a href="#footer_22-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +Gibbons welcomed him heartily, prayed him to accept no other lodging +than his house while he remained in Boston, and gave him the key of +a chamber, in order that he might pray after his own fashion, without +fear of disturbance. An accurate Catholic writer +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">326</a></span> +thinks it likely +that he brought with him the means of celebrating the Mass. +<a href="#footer_22-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +If so, the house of the Puritan was, no doubt, desecrated by that Popish +abomination; but be this as it may, Massachusetts, in the person of her +magistrate, became the gracious host of one of those whom, next to the +Devil and an Anglican bishop, she most abhorred.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01103" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-8" name="footer_22-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + An account of him will be found in Palfrey, <i>Hist. of + New England</i>, II. 225, <i>note</i>.<br /> + <a id="footer_22-9" name="footer_22-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + In the Act, an exception, however, was made in favor of Jesuits + coming as ambassadors or envoys from their government, who were + declared not liable to the penalty of hanging.<br /> + <a id="footer_22-10" name="footer_22-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + J. G. Shea, in <i>Boston Pilot</i>.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01105"> +On the next day, Gibbons took his guest to Roxbury,—called +<i>Rogsbray</i> by Druilletes,—to see the Governor, the harsh +and narrow Dudley, grown gray in repellent virtue and grim honesty. +Some half a century before, he had served in France, under Henry +the Fourth; but he had forgotten his French, and called for an +interpreter to explain the visitor's credentials. He received +Druilletes with courtesy, and promised to call the magistrates +together on the following Tuesday to hear his proposals. +They met accordingly, and Druilletes was asked to dine with them. +The old Governor sat at the head of the table, and after dinner invited +the guest to open the business of his embassy. They listened to him, +desired him to withdraw, and, after consulting among themselves, sent for +him to join them again at supper, when they made him an answer, of which +the record is lost, but which evidently was not definitive.</p> + +<p id="id01106"> +As the Abenaqui Indians were within the jurisdiction of Plymouth, +<a href="#footer_22-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +Druilletes proceeded thither +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">327</a></span> +in his character of their agent. Here, +again, he was received with courtesy and kindness. Governor Bradford +invited him to dine, and, as it was Friday, considerately gave him a +dinner of fish. Druilletes conceived great hope that the colony could be +wrought upon to give the desired assistance; for some of the chief +inhabitants had an interest in the trade with the Abenaquis. +<a href="#footer_22-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +He came back by land to Boston, stopping again at Roxbury on the way. +It was night when he arrived; and, after the usual custom, he took +lodging with the minister. Here were several young Indians, pupils of +his host: for he was no other than the celebrated Eliot, who, during the +past summer, had established his mission at Natick, +<a href="#footer_22-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +and was now laboring, in the fulness of his zeal, in the work of +civilization and conversion. There was great sympathy between +the two missionaries; and Eliot prayed his guest to spend the +winter with him.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01107" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-11" name="footer_22-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + For the documents on the title of Plymouth to lands on the Kennebec, + see Drake's additions to Baylies's <i>History of New Plymouth</i>, + 36, where they are illustrated by an ancient map. The patent was + obtained as early as 1628, and a trading-house soon after + established.<br /> + <a id="footer_22-12" name="footer_22-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + <i>The Record of the Colony of Plymouth</i>, June 5, 1651, contains, + however, the entry, "The Court declare themselves not to be willing to + aid them (<i>the French</i>) in their design, or to grant them + liberty to go through their jurisdiction for the aforesaid purpose" + (<i>to attack the Mohawks</i>).<br /> + <a id="footer_22-13" name="footer_22-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + See Palfrey, <i>New England</i>, II. 336.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01110"> +At Salem, which Druilletes also visited, in company with the minister of +Marblehead, he had an interview with the stern, but manly, Endicott, who, +he says, spoke French, and expressed both interest and good-will towards +the objects of the expedition. As the envoy had no money left, Endicott +paid his charges, and asked him to dine with the magistrates. +<a href="#footer_22-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01111" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-14" name="footer_22-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + On Druilletes's visit to New England, see his journal, entitled + <i>Narré + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">328</a></span> + du Voyage faict pour la Mission des Abenaquois, + et des Connoissances tiréz de la Nouvelle Angleterre et + des Dispositions des Magistrats de cette Republique pour le + Secours contre les Iroquois</i>. See also Druilletes, + <i>Rapport sur le Résultat de ses Négotiations</i>, + in Ferland, <i>Notes sur les Registres</i>, 95. <br /> + + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01112"> +Druilletes was evidently struck with the thrift and vigor of these sturdy +young colonies, and the strength of their population. He says that +Boston, meaning Massachusetts, could alone furnish four thousand fighting +men, and that the four united colonies could count forty thousand souls. +<a href="#footer_22-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +These numbers may be challenged; but, at all events, the contrast +was striking with the attenuated and suffering bands of priests, nuns, +and fur-traders on the St. Lawrence. About twenty-one thousand persons +had come from Old to New England, with the resolve of making it their +home; and though this immigration had virtually ceased, the natural +increase had been great. The necessity, or the strong desire, of +escaping from persecution had given the impulse to Puritan colonization; +while, on the other hand, none but good Catholics, the favored class of +France, were tolerated in Canada. These had no motive for exchanging the +comforts of home and the smiles of Fortune for a starving wilderness and +the scalping-knives of the Iroquois. The Huguenots would have emigrated +in swarms; but they were rigidly forbidden. The zeal of propagandism and +the fur-trade were, as we have seen, the vital forces of New France. +Of her feeble population, the best part was bound to perpetual chastity; +while the fur-traders and those in their +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">329</a></span> +service rarely brought their +wives to the wilderness. The fur-trader, moreover, is always the worst +of colonists; since the increase of population, by diminishing the +numbers of the fur-bearing animals, is adverse to his interest. But +behind all this there was in the religious ideal of the rival colonies an +influence which alone would have gone far to produce the contrast in +material growth.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01113" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-15" name="footer_22-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + Druilletes, <i>Reflexions touchant ce qu'on peut esperer de la Nouvelle + Angleterre contre l'Irocquois</i> (sic), appended to his journal. + <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01114"> +To the mind of the Puritan, heaven was God's throne; but no less was the +earth His footstool: and each in its degree and its kind had its demands +on man. He held it a duty to labor and to multiply; and, building on the +Old Testament quite as much as on the New, thought that a reward on earth +as well as in heaven awaited those who were faithful to the law. +Doubtless, such a belief is widely open to abuse, and it would be folly +to pretend that it escaped abuse in New England; but there was in it an +element manly, healthful, and invigorating. On the other hand, those who +shaped the character, and in great measure the destiny, of New France had +always on their lips the nothingness and the vanity of life. For them, +time was nothing but a preparation for eternity, and the highest virtue +consisted in a renunciation of all the cares, toils, and interests of +earth. That such a doctrine has often been joined to an intense +worldliness, all history proclaims; but with this we have at present +nothing to do. If all mankind acted on it in good faith, the world would +sink into decrepitude. It is the monastic idea carried into the wide +field of active life, and is like the error of those +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">330</a></span> +who, in their zeal +to cultivate their higher nature, suffer the neglected body to dwindle +and pine, till body and mind alike lapse into feebleness and disease.</p> + +<p id="id01115"> +Druilletes returned to the Abenaquis, and thence to Quebec, full of hope +that the object of his mission was in a fair way of accomplishment. +The Governor, d'Ailleboust, +<a href="#footer_22-16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +who had succeeded Montmagny, called his +council, and Druilletes was again dispatched to New England, together +with one of the principal inhabitants of Quebec, Jean Paul Godefroy. +<a href="#footer_22-17"><span class="superscript">[17]</span></a> +They repaired to New Haven, and appeared before the Commissioners of +the Four Colonies, then in session there; but their errand proved +bootless. The Commissioners refused either to declare war or to permit +volunteers to be raised in New England against the Iroquois. The Puritan, +like his descendant, would not fight without a reason. The bait of +free-trade with Canada failed to tempt him; and the envoys retraced their +steps, with a flat, though courteous refusal. +<a href="#footer_22-18"><span class="superscript">[18]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01116" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-16" name="footer_22-16"></a> + <span class="superscript">[16]</span> + The same who, with his wife, had joined the colonists of Montreal. + See <i>ante</i>, <a href="#Page_264">(page 264)</a>. <br /> + <a id="footer_22-17" name="footer_22-17"></a> + <span class="superscript">[17]</span> + He was one of the Governor's council.—Ferland, <i>Notes sur + les Registres</i>, 67.<br /> + <a id="footer_22-18" name="footer_22-18"></a> + <span class="superscript">[18]</span> + On Druilletes's second embassy, see <i>Lettre écrite par + le Conseil de Quebec aux Commissionaires de la Nouvelle + Angleterre</i>, in Charlevoix, I. 287; <i>Extrait des + Registres de l'Ancien Conseil de Quebec</i>, Ibid., I. 288; + <i>Copy of a Letter from the Commissioners of the United Colonies to + the Governor of Canada</i>, in Hazard, II. 183; <i>Answare to the + Propositions presented by the honered French Agents</i>, Ibid., II. + 184; and Hutchinson, <i>Collection of Papers</i>, + <ins title="Volume 1 cites page number 166; Volume 20 cites page number 240."> + 166.</ins> Also, <i>Records of the Commissioners of the United + Colonies, Sept. 5, 1651</i>; and <i>Commission of Druilletes + and Godefroy, in N. Y. Col. Docs.</i>, IX. 6. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01119"> +Now let us stop for a moment at Quebec, and observe some notable changes +that had taken place +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">331</a></span> +in the affairs of the colony. The Company of the +Hundred Associates, whose outlay had been great and their profit small, +transferred to the inhabitants of the colony their monopoly of the +fur-trade, and with it their debts. The inhabitants also assumed their +obligations to furnish arms, munitions, soldiers, and works of defence, +to pay the Governor and other officials, introduce emigrants, and +contribute to support the missions. The Company was to receive, besides, +an annual acknowledgement of a thousand pounds of beaver, and was to +retain all seigniorial rights. The inhabitants were to form a +corporation, of which any one of them might be a member; and no +individual could trade on his own account, except on condition of selling +at a fixed price to the magazine of this new company. +<a href="#footer_22-19"><span class="superscript">[19]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01120" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-19" name="footer_22-19"></a> + <span class="superscript">[19]</span> + <i>Articles accordés entre les Directeurs et + Associés de la Compagnie de la + N<span class="superscript">elle</span> France et les + Députés des Habitans du dit Pays, 6 Mars, 1645</i>. + MS. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01121"> +This change took place in 1645. It was followed, in 1647, by the +establishment of a Council, composed of the Governor-General, the +Superior of the Jesuits, and the Governor of Montreal, who were invested +with absolute powers, legislative, judicial, and executive. The +Governor-General had an appointment of twenty-five thousand livres, +besides the privilege of bringing over seventy tons of freight, yearly, +in the Company's ships. Out of this he was required to pay the soldiers, +repair the forts, and supply arms and munitions. Ten thousand livres and +thirty tons of freight, with similar conditions, were assigned to the +Governor of Montreal. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">332</a></span> +Under these circumstances, one cannot wonder that +the colony was but indifferently defended against the Iroquois, and that +the King had to send soldiers to save it from destruction. In the next +year, at the instance of Maisonneuve, another change was made. A +specified sum was set apart for purposes of defence, and the salaries of +the Governors were proportionably reduced. The Governor-General, +Montmagny, though he seems to have done better than could reasonably have +been expected, was removed; and, as Maisonneuve declined the office, +d'Ailleboust, another Montrealist, was appointed to it. This movement, +indeed, had been accomplished by the interest of the Montreal party; for +already there was no slight jealousy between Quebec and her rival.</p> + +<p id="id01122"> +The Council was reorganized, and now consisted of the Governor, the +Superior of the Jesuits, and three of the principal inhabitants. +<a href="#footer_22-20"><span class="superscript">[20]</span></a> +These last were to be chosen every three years by the +Council itself, in conjunction with the Syndics of Quebec, Montreal, +and Three Rivers. The Syndic was an officer elected by the inhabitants +of the community to which he belonged, to manage its affairs. Hence a +slight ingredient of liberty was introduced into the new organization.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-20" name="footer_22-20"></a> + <span class="superscript">[20]</span> + The Governors of Montreal and Three Rivers, when present, had + also seats in the Council. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01123"> +The colony, since the transfer of the fur-trade, had become a resident +corporation of merchants, with the Governor and Council at its head. +They were at once the directors of a trading company, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">333</a></span> +a legislative +assembly, a court of justice, and an executive body: more even than this, +for they regulated the private affairs of families and individuals. +The appointment and payment of clerks and the examining of accounts +mingled with high functions of government; and the new corporation of the +inhabitants seems to have been managed with very little consultation of +its members. How the Father Superior acquitted himself in his capacity +of director of a fur-company is nowhere recorded. +<a href="#footer_22-21"><span class="superscript">[21]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01124" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-21" name="footer_22-21"></a> + <span class="superscript">[21]</span> + Those curious in regard to these new regulations will find an account + of them, at greater length, in Ferland and Faillon. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01125"> +As for Montreal, though it had given a +<ins title="Change Govornor to Governor.">Governor</ins> +to the colony, its +prospects were far from hopeful. The ridiculous Dauversière, its chief +founder, was sick and bankrupt; and the Associates of Montreal, once so +full of zeal and so abounding in wealth, were reduced to nine persons. +What it had left of vitality was in the enthusiastic Mademoiselle Mance, +the earnest and disinterested soldier, Maisonneuve, and the priest, Olier, +with his new Seminary of St. Sulpice.</p> + +<p id="id01126"> +Let us visit Quebec in midwinter. We pass the warehouses and dwellings +of the lower town, and as we climb the zigzag way now called Mountain +Street, the frozen river, the roofs, the summits of the cliff, and all +the broad landscape below and around us glare in the sharp sunlight with +a dazzling whiteness. At the top, scarcely a private house is to be +seen; but, instead, a fort, a church, a hospital, a cemetery, a house of +the Jesuits, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">334</a></span> +an Ursuline convent. Yet, regardless of the keen air, +soldiers, Jesuits, servants, officials, women, all of the little +community who are not cloistered, are abroad and astir. Despite the +gloom of the times, an unwonted cheer enlivens this rocky perch of France +and the Faith; for it is New-Year's Day, and there is an active +interchange of greetings and presents. Thanks to the nimble pen of the +Father Superior, we know what each gave and what each received. He thus +writes in his private journal:—</p> + +<p> +"The soldiers went with their guns to +salute Monsieur the Governor; and so did also the inhabitants in a body. +He was beforehand with us, and came here at seven o'clock to wish us a +happy New-Year, each in turn, one after another. I went to see him after +mass. Another time we must be beforehand with him. M. Giffard also came +to see us. The Hospital nuns sent us letters of compliment very early in +the morning; and the Ursulines sent us some beautiful presents, with +candles, rosaries, a crucifix, etc., and, at dinner-time, two excellent +pies. I sent them two images, in enamel, of St. Ignatius and St. Francis +Xavier. We gave to M. Giffard Father Bonnet's book on the life of Our +Lord; to M. des Châtelets, a little volume on Eternity; to M. Bourdon, +a telescope and compass; and to others, reliquaries, rosaries, medals, +images, etc. I went to see M. Giffard, M. Couillard, and Mademoiselle de +Repentigny. The Ursulines sent to beg that I would come and see them +before the end of the day. I went, and paid my compliments also to +Madame de la Peltrie, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">335</a></span> +who sent us some presents. I was near leaving this +out, which would have been a sad oversight. We gave a crucifix to the +woman who washes the church-linen, a bottle of <i>eau-de-vie</i> to Abraham, +four handkerchiefs to his wife, some books of devotion to others, and two +handkerchiefs to Robert Hache. He asked for two more, and we gave them +to him." +<a href="#footer_22-22"><span class="superscript">[22]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01127" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_22-22" name="footer_22-22"></a> + <span class="superscript">[22]</span> + <i>Journal des Supérieurs des Jésuites</i>, MS. + Only fragments of this curious record are extant. It was + begun by Lalemant in 1645. For the privilege of having what + remains of it copied I am indebted to M. Jacques Viger. The + entry translated above is of Jan. 1, 1646. Of the persons + named in it, Giffard was seigneur of Beauport, and a member + of the Council; Des Châtelets was one of the earliest + settlers, and connected by marriage with Giffard; Couillard + was son-in-law of the first settler, Hébert; + Mademoiselle de Repentigny was daughter of Le Gardeur de + Repentigny, commander of the fleet; Madame de la Peltrie has + been described already; Bourdon was chief engineer of the + colony; Abraham was Abraham Martin, pilot for the King on the + St. Lawrence, from whom the historic Plains of Abraham + received their name. (See Ferland, <i>Notes sur Registres</i>, + 16.) The rest were servants, or persons of humble station.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_23" id="Chapter_23"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">336</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01128"><a href="#Contents23">CHAPTER XXIII.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1645-1648.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01129" class="smcapheader">A DOOMED NATION.</p> + <p id="id01130" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Indian Infatuation • Iroquois and Huron • + Huron Triumphs • The Captive Iroquois • + His Ferocity and Fortitude • Partisan Exploits • + Diplomacy • The Andastes • The Huron Embassy • + New Negotiations • The Iroquois Ambassador • + His Suicide • Iroquois Honor + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01132"> +<span class="smcap">It</span> was a strange and miserable spectacle +to behold the savages of this continent at the time when the knell +of their common ruin had already sounded. Civilization had gained +a foothold on their borders. The long and gloomy reign of barbarism +was drawing near its close, and their united efforts could scarcely +have availed to sustain it. Yet, in this crisis of their destiny, +these doomed tribes were tearing each other's throats in a wolfish +fury, joined to an intelligence that served little purpose but +mutual destruction.</p> + +<p id="id01133"> +How the quarrel began between the Iroquois and their Huron kindred no man +can tell, and it is not worth while to conjecture. At this time, the +ruling passion of the savage Confederates was the annihilation of this +rival people and of their Algonquin +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">337</a></span> +allies,—if the understanding between +the Hurons and these incoherent hordes can be called an alliance. +United, they far outnumbered the Iroquois. Indeed, the Hurons alone were +not much inferior in force; for, by the largest estimates, the strength +of the five Iroquois nations must now have been considerably less than +three thousand warriors. Their true superiority was a moral one. +They were in one of those transports of pride, self-confidence, and rage +for ascendency, which, in a savage people, marks an era of conquest. +With all the defects of their organization, it was far better than that +of their neighbors. There were bickerings, jealousies, plottings +and counter-plottings, separate wars and separate treaties, among the +five members of the league; yet nothing could sunder them. The bonds +that united them were like cords of India-rubber: they would stretch, +and the parts would be seemingly disjoined, only to return to their old +union with the recoil. Such was the elastic strength of those relations +of clanship which were the life of the league. +<a href="#footer_23-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_23-1" name="footer_23-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + See <i>ante</i>, Introduction. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01134"> +The first meeting of white men with the Hurons found them at blows with +the Iroquois; and from that time forward, the war raged with increasing +fury. Small scalping-parties infested the Huron forests, killing squaws +in the cornfields, or entering villages at midnight to tomahawk their +sleeping inhabitants. Often, too, invasions were made in force. +Sometimes towns were set upon and burned, and sometimes there were deadly +conflicts in the depths +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">338</a></span> +of the forests and the passes of the hills. +The invaders were not always successful. A bloody rebuff and a sharp +retaliation now and then requited them. Thus, in 1638, a war-party of a +hundred Iroquois met in the forest a band of three hundred Huron and +Algonquin warriors. They might have retreated, and the greater number +were for doing so; but Ononkwaya, an Oneida chief, refused. "Look!" +he said, "the sky is clear; the Sun beholds us. If there were clouds to +hide our shame from his sight, we might fly; but, as it is, we must fight +while we can." They stood their ground for a time, but were soon +overborne. Four or five escaped; but the rest were surrounded, and +killed or taken. This year, Fortune smiled on the Hurons; and they took, +in all, more than a hundred prisoners, who were distributed among their +various towns, to be burned. These scenes, with them, occurred always in +the night; and it was held to be of the last importance that the torture +should be protracted from sunset till dawn. The too valiant Ononkwaya +was among the victims. Even in death he took his revenge; for it was +thought an augury of disaster to the victors, if no cry of pain could be +extorted from the sufferer, and, on the present occasion, he displayed an +unflinching courage, rare even among Indian warriors. His execution took +place at the town of Teanaustayé, called St. Joseph by the Jesuits. +The Fathers could not save his life, but, what was more to the purpose, +they baptized him. On the scaffold where he was burned, he wrought +himself into a fury which seemed to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">339</a></span> +render him insensible to pain. +Thinking him nearly spent, his tormentors scalped him, when, to their +amazement, he leaped up, snatched the brands that had been the +instruments of his torture, drove the screeching crowd from the scaffold, +and held them all at bay, while they pelted him from below with sticks, +stones, and showers of live coals. At length he made a false step and +fell to the ground, when they seized him and threw him into the fire. +He instantly leaped out, covered with blood, cinders, and ashes, and +rushed upon them, with a blazing brand in each hand. The crowd gave way +before him, and he ran towards the town, as if to set it on fire. +They threw a pole across his way, which tripped him and flung him +headlong to the earth, on which they all fell upon him, cut off his hands +and feet, and again threw him into the fire. He rolled himself out, +and crawled forward on his elbows and knees, glaring upon them with such +unutterable ferocity that they recoiled once more, till, seeing that he +was helpless, they threw themselves upon him, and cut off his head. +<a href="#footer_23-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01135" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_23-2" name="footer_23-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1639</i>, 68. It was this + chief whose severed hand was thrown to the Jesuits. See + <i>ante</i>, <a href="#id00681a">(page 137)</a>. + <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01136"> +When the Iroquois could not win by force, they were sometimes more +successful with treachery. In the summer of 1645, two war-parties of the +hostile nations met in the forest. The Hurons bore themselves so well +that they had nearly gained the day, when the Iroquois called for a +parley, displayed a great number of wampum-belts, and said that they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">340</a></span> +wished to treat for peace. The Hurons had the folly to consent. The +chiefs on both sides sat down to a council, during which the Iroquois, +seizing a favorable moment, fell upon their dupes and routed them +completely, killing and capturing a considerable number. +<a href="#footer_23-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_23-3" name="footer_23-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1646</i>, 55.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + + +<p id="id01137"> +The large frontier town of St. Joseph was well fortified with palisades, +on which, at intervals, were wooden watch-towers. On an evening of this +same summer of 1645, the Iroquois approached the place in force; and the +young Huron warriors, mounting their palisades, sang their war-songs all +night, with the utmost power of their lungs, in order that the enemy, +knowing them to be on their guard, might be deterred from an attack. +The night was dark, and the hideous dissonance resounded far and wide; +yet, regardless of the din, two Iroquois crept close to the palisade, +where they lay motionless till near dawn. By this time the last song had +died away, and the tired singers had left their posts or fallen asleep. +One of the Iroquois, with the silence and agility of a wild-cat, climbed +to the top of a watch-tower, where he found two slumbering Hurons, +brained one of them with his hatchet, and threw the other down to his +comrade, who quickly despoiled him of his life and his scalp. Then, +with the reeking trophies of their exploit, the adventurers rejoined +their countrymen in the forest.</p> + +<p id="id01138"> +The Hurons planned a counter-stroke; and three of them, after a journey +of twenty days, reached +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">341</a></span> +the great town of the Senecas. They entered it +at midnight, and found, as usual, no guard; but the doors of the houses +were made fast. They cut a hole in the bark side of one of them, crept +in, stirred the fading embers to give them light, chose each his man, +tomahawked him, scalped him, and escaped in the confusion. +<a href="#footer_23-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01139" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_23-4" name="footer_23-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1646</i>, 55, 56. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01140"> +Despite such petty triumphs, the Hurons felt themselves on the verge of +ruin. Pestilence and war had wasted them away, and left but a skeleton +of their former strength. In their distress, they cast about them for +succor, and, remembering an ancient friendship with a kindred nation, +the Andastes, they sent an embassy to ask of them aid in war or +intervention to obtain peace. This powerful people dwelt, as has been +shown, on the River Susquehanna. +<a href="#footer_23-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +The way was long, even in a direct line; but the Iroquois lay between, +and a wide circuit was necessary to avoid them. A Christian chief, +whom the Jesuits had named Charles, together with four Christian and +four heathen Hurons, bearing wampum-belts and gifts from the council, +departed on this embassy on the thirteenth of April, 1647, and reached +the great town of the Andastes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">342</a></span> +early in June. It contained, as the +Jesuits were told, no less than thirteen hundred warriors. The +council assembled, and the chief ambassador addressed them:—</p> + + +<p id="id01141"> +"We come from the Land of Souls, where all is gloom, dismay, and +desolation. Our fields are covered with blood; our houses are filled +only with the dead; and we ourselves have but life enough to beg our +friends to take pity on a people who are drawing near their end." +<a href="#footer_23-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +Then he presented the wampum-belts and other gifts, saying that they were +the voice of a dying country.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01142" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_23-5" name="footer_23-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + See Introduction. The Susquehannocks of Smith, clearly the same + people, are placed, in his map, on the east side of the Susquehanna, + some twenty miles from its mouth. He speaks of them as great enemies of + the Massawomekes (Mohawks). No other savage people so boldly resisted + the Iroquois; but the story in Hazard's <i>Annals of Pennsylvania</i>, + that a hundred of them beat off sixteen hundred Senecas, is disproved + by the fact, that the Senecas, in their best estate, never had so many + warriors. The miserable remnant of the Andastes, called Conestogas, + were massacred by the Paxton Boys, in 1763. See "Conspiracy of + Pontiac," 414. Compare <i>Historical Magazine</i>, II. 294.<br /> + <a id="footer_23-6" name="footer_23-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + "Il leur dit qu'il venoit du pays des Ames, où la guerre et la + terreur des ennemis auoit tout desolé, où les campagnes + n'estoient couuertes que de sang, où les cabanes n'estoient + remplies que de cadaures, et qu'il ne leur restoit à eux-mesmes + de vie, sinon autant qu'ils en auoient eu besoin pour venir dire + à leurs amis, qu'ils eussent pitié d'vn pays qui tiroit + à sa fin."—Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1648</i>, + 58.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01143"> +The Andastes, who had a mortal quarrel with the Mohawks, and who had +before promised to aid the Hurons in case of need, returned a favorable +answer, but were disposed to try the virtue of diplomacy rather than the +tomahawk. After a series of councils, they determined to send +ambassadors, not to their old enemies, the Mohawks, but to the Onondagas, +Oneidas, and Cayugas, +<a href="#footer_23-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +who were geographically the central nations of the Iroquois league, +while the Mohawks and the Senecas were respectively at its eastern +and western extremities. By inducing the three central nations, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">343</a></span> +and, if possible, the Senecas also, to conclude a treaty with the +Hurons, these last would be enabled to concentrate their force +against the Mohawks, whom the Andastes would attack at the same +time, unless they humbled themselves and made peace. This scheme, +it will be seen, was based on the assumption, that the dreaded league of +the Iroquois was far from being a unit in action or counsel.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01144" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_23-7" name="footer_23-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + Examination leaves no doubt that the <i>Ouiouenronnons</i> of + Ragueneau (<i>Relation des Hurons, 1648</i>, 46, 59) were the + Oiogouins or <i>Goyogouins</i>, that is to say, the Cayugas. + They must not be confounded with the Ouenrohronnons, a small + tribe hostile to the Iroquois, who took refuge among the + Hurons in 1638.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01145"> +Charles, with some of his colleagues, now set out for home, to report the +result of their mission; but the Senecas were lying in wait for them, +and they were forced to make a wide sweep through the Alleghanies, +Western Pennsylvania, and apparently Ohio, to avoid these vigilant foes. +It was October before they reached the Huron towns, and meanwhile hopes +of peace had arisen from another quarter. +<a href="#footer_23-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_23-8" name="footer_23-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + On this mission of the Hurons to the Andastes, see Ragueneau, + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1648</i>, 58-60.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01146"> +Early in the spring, a band of Onondagas had made an inroad, but were +roughly handled by the Hurons, who killed several of them, captured +others, and put the rest to flight. The prisoners were burned, with the +exception of one who committed suicide to escape the torture, and one +other, the chief man of the party, whose name was Annenrais. Some of the +Hurons were dissatisfied at the mercy shown him, and gave out that they +would kill him; on which the chiefs, who never placed themselves in open +opposition to the popular will, secretly fitted him out, made him +presents, and aided him to escape at night, with an understanding that he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">344</a></span> +should use his influence at Onondaga in favor of peace. After crossing +Lake Ontario, he met nearly all the Onondaga warriors on the march to +avenge his supposed death; for he was a man of high account. They +greeted him as one risen from the grave; and, on his part, he persuaded +them to renounce their warlike purpose and return home. On their arrival, +the chiefs and old men were called to council, and the matter was debated +with the usual deliberation.</p> + +<p id="id01147"> +About this time the ambassador of the Andastes appeared with his +wampum-belts. Both this nation and the Onondagas had secret motives +which were perfectly in accordance. The Andastes hated the Mohawks as +enemies, and the Onondagas were jealous of them as confederates; for, +since they had armed themselves with Dutch guns, their arrogance and +boastings had given umbrage to their brethren of the league; and a peace +with the Hurons would leave the latter free to turn their undivided +strength against the Mohawks, and curb their insolence. The Oneidas and +the Cayugas were of one mind with the Onondagas. Three nations of the +league, to satisfy their spite against a fourth, would strike hands with +the common enemy of all. It was resolved to send an embassy to the +Hurons. Yet it may be, that, after all, the Onondagas had but half a +mind for peace. At least, they were unfortunate in their choice of an +ambassador. He was by birth a Huron, who, having been captured when a +boy, adopted and naturalized, had become more an Iroquois than the +Iroquois themselves; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">345</a></span> +and scarcely one of the fierce confederates had shed +so much Huron blood. When he reached the town of St. Ignace, which he +did about mid-summer, and delivered his messages and wampum-belts, there +was a great division of opinion among the Hurons. The Bear Nation—the +member of their confederacy which was farthest from the Iroquois, and +least exposed to danger—was for rejecting overtures made by so offensive +an agency; but those of the Hurons who had suffered most were eager for +peace at any price, and, after solemn deliberation, it was resolved to +send an embassy in return. At its head was placed a Christian chief +named Jean Baptiste Atironta; and on the first of August he and four +others departed for Onondaga, carrying a profusion of presents, and +accompanied by the apostate envoy of the Iroquois. As the ambassadors +had to hunt on the way for subsistence, besides making canoes to cross +Lake Ontario, it was twenty days before they reached their destination. +When they arrived, there was great jubilation, and, for a full month, +nothing but councils. Having thus sifted the matter to the bottom, +the Onondagas determined at last to send another embassy with Jean +Baptiste on his return, and with them fifteen Huron prisoners, as an +earnest of their good intentions, retaining, on their part, one of +Baptiste's colleagues as a hostage. This time they chose for their envoy +a chief of their own nation, named Scandawati, a man of renown, sixty +years of age, joining with him two colleagues. The old Onondaga entered +on his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">346</a></span> +mission with a troubled mind. His anxiety was not so much for his +life as for his honor and dignity; for, while the Oneidas and the Cayugas +were acting in concurrence with the Onondagas, the Senecas had refused +any part in the embassy, and still breathed nothing but war. Would they, +or still more the Mohawks, so far forget the consideration due to one +whose name had been great in the councils of the League as to assault the +Hurons while he was among them in the character of an ambassador of his +nation, whereby his honor would be compromised and his life endangered? +His mind brooded on this idea, and he told one of his colleagues, that, +if such a slight were put upon him, he should die of mortification. +"I am not a dead dog," he said, "to be despised and forgotten. I am +worthy that all men should turn their eyes on me while I am among enemies, +and do nothing that may involve me in danger."</p> + +<p id="id01148"> +What with hunting, fishing, canoe-making, and bad weather, the progress +of the august travellers was so slow, that they did not reach the Huron +towns till the twenty-third of October. Scandawati presented seven large +belts of wampum, each composed of three or four thousand beads, which the +Jesuits call the pearls and diamonds of the country. He delivered, too, +the fifteen captives, and promised a hundred more on the final conclusion +of peace. The three Onondagas remained, as surety for the good faith of +those who sent them, until the beginning of January, when the Hurons on +their part sent six ambassadors to conclude the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">347</a></span> +treaty, one of the +Onondagas accompanying them. Soon there came dire tidings. The +prophetic heart of the old chief had not deceived him. The Senecas and +Mohawks, disregarding negotiations in which they had no part, and +resolved to bring them to an end, were invading the country in force. +It might be thought that the Hurons would take their revenge on the +Onondaga envoys, now hostages among them; but they did not do so, for the +character of an ambassador was, for the most part, held in respect. +One morning, however, Scandawati had disappeared. They were full of +excitement; for they thought that he had escaped to the enemy. They +ranged the woods in search of him, and at length found him in a thicket +near the town. He lay dead, on a bed of spruce-boughs which he had made, +his throat deeply gashed with a knife. He had died by his own hand, +a victim of mortified pride. "See," writes Father Ragueneau, "how much +our Indians stand on the point of honor!" +<a href="#footer_23-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_23-9" name="footer_23-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + This remarkable story is told by Ragueneau, <i>Relation + des Hurons, 1648</i>, 56-58. He was present at the time, + and knew all the circumstances. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01149"> +We have seen that one of his two colleagues had set out for Onondaga with +a deputation of six Hurons. This party was met by a hundred Mohawks, +who captured them all and killed the six Hurons, but spared the Onondaga, +and compelled him to join them. Soon after, they made a sudden onset on +about three hundred Hurons journeying through the forest from the town of +St. Ignace; and, as many of them were women, they routed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">348</a></span> +the whole, +and took forty prisoners. The Onondaga bore part in the fray, and +captured a Christian Huron girl; but the next day he insisted on +returning to the Huron town. "Kill me, if you will," he said to the +Mohawks, "but I cannot follow you; for then I should be ashamed to appear +among my countrymen, who sent me on a message of peace to the Hurons; and +I must die with them, sooner than seem to act as their enemy." On this, +the Mohawks not only permitted him to go, but gave him the Huron girl +whom he had taken; and the Onondaga led her back in safety to her +countrymen. +<a href="#footer_23-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +Here, then, is a ray of light out of Egyptian +darkness. The principle of honor was not extinct in these wild hearts.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01150" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_23-10" name="footer_23-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + "Celuy qui l'auoit prise estoit Onnontaeronnon, qui estant icy en os + tage à cause de la paix qui se traite auec les Onnontaeronnons, + et s'estant trouué auec nos Hurons à cette chasse, y fut + pris tout des premiers par les Sonnontoueronnons (<i>Annieronnons?</i>), + qui l'ayans reconnu ne luy firent aucun mal, et mesme l'obligerent de + les suiure et prendre part à leur victoire; et ainsi en ce + rencontre cét Onnontaeronnon auoit fait sa prise, tellement + neantmoins qu'il desira s'en retourner le lendemain, disant aux + Sonnontoueronnons qu'ils le tuassent s'ils vouloient, mais qu'il ne + pouuoit se resoudre à les suiure, et qu'il auroit honte de + reparoistre en son pays, les affaires qui l'auoient amené aux + Hurons pour la paix ne permettant pas qu'il fist autre chose que de + mourir avec eux plus tost que de paroistre s'estre comporté en + ennemy. Ainsi les Sonnontoueronnons luy permirent de s'en retourner et + de ramener cette bonne Chrestienne, qui estoit sa captiue, laquelle + nous a consolé par le recit des entretiens de ces pauures gens + dans leur affliction."—Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, + 1648</i>, 65.</p> + <p id="id01151"> + Apparently the word <i>Sonnontoueronnons</i> (Senecas), in the above, + should read <i>Annieronnons</i> (Mohawks); for, on pp. 50, 57, the + writer twice speaks of the party as Mohawks. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01152"> +We hear no more of the negotiations between the Onondagas and the Hurons. +They and their results were swept away in the storm of events soon to be +related.</p> + + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_24" id="Chapter_24"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">349</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01153"><a href="#Contents24">CHAPTER XXIV.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1645-1648.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01154" class="smcapheader">THE HURON CHURCH.</p> + <p id="id01155" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Hopes of the Mission • Christian and Heathen • + Body and Soul • Position of Proselytes • + The Huron Girl's Visit to Heaven • + A Crisis • Huron Justice • + Murder and Atonement • Hopes and Fears + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01157"> +<span class="smcap">How</span> did it fare with the missions in these +days of woe and terror? They had thriven beyond hope. The Hurons, +in their time of trouble, had become tractable. They humbled themselves, +and, in their desolation and despair, came for succor to the priests. +There was a harvest of converts, not only exceeding in numbers that of +all former years, but giving in many cases undeniable proofs of sincerity +and fervor. In some towns the Christians outnumbered the heathen, and +in nearly all they formed a strong party. The mission of La Conception, +or Ossossané, was the most successful. Here there were now a +church and one or more resident Jesuits,—as also at St. Joseph, +St. Ignace, St. Michel, and St. Jean Baptiste: +<a href="#footer_24-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +for we have seen that the Huron towns were +christened with names of saints. Each church had its bell, which was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">350</a></span> +sometimes hung in a neighboring tree. +<a href="#footer_24-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +Every morning it rang its +summons to mass; and, issuing from their dwellings of bark, the converts +gathered within the sacred precinct, where the bare, rude walls, fresh +from the axe and saw, contrasted with the sheen of tinsel and gilding, +and the hues of gay draperies and gaudy pictures. At evening they met +again at prayers; and on Sunday, masses, confession, catechism, sermons, +and repeating the rosary consumed the whole day. +<a href="#footer_24-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +</p> + + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_24-1" name="footer_24-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1646</i>, 56. <br /> + <a id="footer_24-2" name="footer_24-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + A fragment of one of these bells, found on the site of a Huron town, + is preserved in the museum of Huron relics at the Laval University, + Quebec. The bell was not large, but was of very elaborate workmanship. + Before 1644 the Jesuits had used old copper kettles as a + substitute.—<i>Lettre de Lalemant, 31 March, 1644</i>.<br /> + <a id="footer_24-3" name="footer_24-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1646</i>, 56. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01161"> +These converts rarely took part in the burning of prisoners. On the +contrary, they sometimes set their faces against the practice; and on one +occasion, a certain Étienne Totiri, while his heathen countrymen were +tormenting a captive Iroquois at St. Ignace, boldly denounced them, +and promised them an eternity of flames and demons, unless they desisted. +Not content with this, he addressed an exhortation to the sufferer in one +of the intervals of his torture. The dying wretch demanded baptism, +which Étienne took it upon himself to administer, amid the hootings of +the crowd, who, as he ran with a cup of water from a neighboring house, +pushed him to and fro to make him spill it, crying out, "Let him alone! +Let the devils burn him after we have done!" +<a href="#footer_24-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01162" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_24-4" name="footer_24-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1646</i>, 58. The Hurons often + resisted the baptism of their prisoners, on the ground that Hell, + and not Heaven, was the place to which they + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">351</a></span> + would have them + go.—See Lalemant, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1642</i>, 60, + Ragueneau, <i>Ibid., 1648</i>, 53, and several other passages.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01163"> +In regard to these atrocious scenes, which formed the favorite Huron +recreation of a summer night, the Jesuits, it must be confessed, did not +quite come up to the requirements of modern sensibility. They were +offended at them, it is true, and prevented them when they could; but +they were wholly given to the saving of souls, and held the body in scorn, +as the vile source of incalculable mischief, worthy the worst inflictions +that could be put upon it. What were a few hours of suffering to an +eternity of bliss or woe? If the victim were heathen, these brief pangs +were but the faint prelude of an undying flame; and if a Christian, +they were the fiery portal of Heaven. They might, indeed, be a blessing; +since, accepted in atonement for sin, they would shorten the torments of +Purgatory. Yet, while schooling themselves to despise the body, and all +the pain or pleasure that pertained to it, the Fathers were emphatic on +one point. It must not be eaten. In the matter of cannibalism, they +were loud and vehement in invective. +<a href="#footer_24-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01164" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_24-5" name="footer_24-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + The following curious case of conversion at the stake, gravely related + by Lalemant, is worth preserving.</p> + <p id="id01165"> + "An Iroquois was to be burned at a town some way off. What consolation + to set forth, in the hottest summer weather, to deliver this poor victim + from the hell prepared for him! The Father approaches him, and + instructs him even in the midst of his torments. Forthwith the Faith + finds a place in his heart. He recognizes and adores, as the author of + his life, Him whose name he had never heard till the hour of his death. + He receives the grace of baptism, and breathes nothing but + heaven.… This newly made, but generous Christian, mounted on the + scaffold which is the place of his torture, in the sight of a thousand + spectators, who are + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">352</a></span> + at once his enemies, his judges, and his + executioners, raises his eyes and his voice heavenward, and cries + aloud, 'Sun, who art witness of my torments, hear my words! I am + about to die; but, after my death, I shall go to dwell in + heaven.'"—<i>Relation des Hurons, 1641</i>, 67.</p> + <p id="id01166"> + The Sun, it will be remembered, was the god of the heathen Iroquois. + The convert appealed to his old deity to rejoice with him in his happy + future.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01167"> +Undeniably, the Faith was making progress; yet it is not to be supposed +that its path was a smooth one. The old opposition and the old calumnies +were still alive and active. "It is <i>la prière</i> that kills us. +Your books and your strings of beads have bewitched the country. Before +you came, we were happy and prosperous. You are magicians. Your charms +kill our corn, and bring sickness and the Iroquois. Echon (Brébeuf) +is a traitor among us, in league with our enemies." Such discourse was +still rife, openly and secretly.</p> + +<p id="id01168"> +The Huron who embraced the Faith renounced thenceforth, as we have seen, +the feasts, dances, and games in which was his delight, since all these +savored of diabolism. And if, being in health, he could not enjoy +himself, so also, being sick, he could not be cured; for his physician +was a sorcerer, whose medicines were charms and incantations. If the +convert was a chief, his case was far worse; since, writes Father +Lalemant, "to be a chief and a Christian is to combine water and fire; +for the business of the chiefs is mainly to do the Devil's bidding, +preside over ceremonies of hell, and excite the young Indians to dances, +feasts, and shameless indecencies." +<a href="#footer_24-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01169" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_24-6" name="footer_24-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1642</i>, 89. The indecencies + alluded to were chiefly naked dances, of a superstitious + character, and the mystical cure called <i>Andacwandet</i>, + before mentioned.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01170"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">353</a></span> +It is not surprising, then, that proselytes were difficult to make, +or that, being made, they often relapsed. The Jesuits complain that they +had no means of controlling their converts, and coercing backsliders to +stand fast; and they add, that the Iroquois, by destroying the fur-trade, +had broken the principal bond between the Hurons and the French, and +greatly weakened the influence of the mission. +<a href="#footer_24-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +</p> + + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_24-7" name="footer_24-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + <i>Lettre du P. Hierosme Lalemant</i>, + appended to the <i>Relation</i> of 1645. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01171"> +Among the slanders devised by the heathen party against the teachers of +the obnoxious doctrine was one which found wide credence, even among the +converts, and produced a great effect. They gave out that a baptized +Huron girl, who had lately died, and was buried in the cemetery at Sainte +Marie, had returned to life, and given a deplorable account of the heaven +of the French. No sooner had she entered,—such was the story,—than +they seized her, chained her to a stake, and tormented her all day with +inconceivable cruelty. They did the same to all the other converted +Hurons; for this was the recreation of the French, and especially of the +Jesuits, in their celestial abode. They baptized Indians with no other +object than that they might have them to torment in heaven; to which end +they were willing to meet hardships and dangers in this life, just as a +war-party invades the enemy's country at great risk that it may bring +home prisoners to burn. After her painful experience, an unknown friend +secretly showed the girl a path down to the earth; and she hastened +thither +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">354</a></span> +to warn her countrymen against the wiles of the missionaries. +<a href="#footer_24-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_24-8" name="footer_24-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1646</i>, 65. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01172"> +In the spring of 1648 the excitement of the heathen party reached a +crisis. A young Frenchman, named Jacques Douart, in the service of the +mission, going out at evening a short distance from the Jesuit house of +Sainte Marie, was tomahawked by unknown Indians, +<a href="#footer_24-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +who proved to be +two brothers, instigated by the heathen chiefs. A great commotion +followed, and for a few days it seemed that the adverse parties would +fall to blows, at a time when the common enemy threatened to destroy them +both. But sager counsels prevailed. In view of the manifest strength of +the Christians, the pagans lowered their tone; and it soon became +apparent that it was the part of the Jesuits to insist boldly on +satisfaction for the outrage. They made no demand that the murderers +should be punished or surrendered, but, with their usual good sense in +such matters, conformed to Indian usage, and required that the nation at +large should make atonement for the crime by presents. +<a href="#footer_24-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +The number +of these, their value, and the mode of delivering them were all fixed by +ancient custom; and some of the converts, acting as counsel, advised the +Fathers of every step it behooved them to take in a case of such +importance. As this is the best illustration of Huron justice on record, +it may be well to observe +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">355</a></span> +the method of procedure,—recollecting that the +public, and not the criminal, was to pay the forfeit of the crime.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01173" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_24-9" name="footer_24-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1648</i>, 77. Compare <i>Lettre + du P. Jean de Brébeuf au T. R. P. Vincent Carafa, + Général de la Compagnie de Jésus, Sainte Marie, + 2 Juin, 1648</i>, in Carayon.<br /> + <a id="footer_24-10" name="footer_24-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + See Introduction.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01175"> +First of all, the Huron chiefs summoned the Jesuits to meet them at a +grand council of the nation, when an old orator, chosen by the rest, +rose and addressed Ragueneau, as chief of the French, in the following +harangue. Ragueneau, who reports it, declares that he has added nothing +to it, and the translation is as literal as possible.</p> + +<p id="id01176"> +"My Brother," began the speaker, "behold all the tribes of our league +assembled!"—and he named them one by one. "We are but a handful; you +are the prop and stay of this nation. A thunderbolt has fallen from the +sky, and rent a chasm in the earth. We shall fall into it, if you do not +support us. Take pity on us. We are here, not so much to speak as to +weep over our loss and yours. Our country is but a skeleton, without +flesh, veins, sinews, or arteries; and its bones hang together by a +thread. This thread is broken by the blow that has fallen on the head of +your nephew, +<a href="#footer_24-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +for whom we weep. It was a demon of Hell who placed +the hatchet in the murderer's hand. Was it you, Sun, whose beams shine +on us, who led him to do this deed? Why did you not darken your light, +that he might be stricken with horror at his crime? Were you his +accomplice? No; for he walked in darkness, and did not see where +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">356</a></span> +he struck. He thought, this wretched murderer, that he aimed at the head of +a young Frenchman; but the blow fell upon his country, and gave it a +death-wound. The earth opens to receive the blood of the innocent victim, +and we shall be swallowed up in the chasm; for we are all guilty. +The Iroquois rejoice at his death, and celebrate it as a triumph; for +they see that our weapons are turned against each other, and know well +that our nation is near its end.</p> + +<p id="id01177"> +"Brother, take pity on this nation. You alone can restore it to life. +It is for you to gather up all these scattered bones, and close this +chasm that opens to ingulf us. Take pity on your country. I call it +yours, for you are the master of it; and we came here like criminals to +receive your sentence, if you will not show us mercy. Pity those who +condemn themselves and come to ask forgiveness. It is you who have given +strength to the nation by dwelling with it; and if you leave us, we shall +be like a wisp of straw torn from the ground to be the sport of the wind. +This country is an island drifting on the waves, for the first storm to +overwhelm and sink. Make it fast again to its foundation, and posterity +will never forget to praise you. When we first heard of this murder, +we could do nothing but weep; and we are ready to receive your orders and +comply with your demands. Speak, then, and ask what satisfaction you +will, for our lives and our possessions are yours; and even if we rob our +children to satisfy you, we will tell them that it is not of you that +they have to complain, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">357</a></span> +but of him whose crime has made us all guilty. +Our anger is against him; but for you we feel nothing but love. He +destroyed our lives; and you will restore them, if you will but speak and +tell us what you will have us do."</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01178" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_24-11" name="footer_24-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + The usual Indian figure in such cases, and not meant to express an + actual relationship;—"Uncle" for a superior, "Brother" for an + equal, "Nephew" for an inferior. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01179"> +Ragueneau, who remarks that this harangue is a proof that eloquence is +the gift of Nature rather than of Art, made a reply, which he has not +recorded, and then gave the speaker a bundle of small sticks, indicating +the number of presents which he required in satisfaction for the murder. +These sticks were distributed among the various tribes in the council, +in order that each might contribute its share towards the indemnity. +The council dissolved, and the chiefs went home, each with his allotment +of sticks, to collect in his village a corresponding number of presents. +There was no constraint; those gave who chose to do so; but, as all were +ambitious to show their public spirit, the contributions were ample. +No one thought of molesting the murderers. Their punishment was their +shame at the sacrifices which the public were making in their behalf.</p> + +<p id="id01180"> +The presents being ready, a day was set for the ceremony of their +delivery; and crowds gathered from all parts to witness it. The assembly +was convened in the open air, in a field beside the mission-house of +Sainte Marie; and, in the midst, the chiefs held solemn council. Towards +evening, they deputed four of their number, two Christians and two +heathen, to carry their address to the Father Superior. They came, +loaded with presents; but +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">358</a></span> +these were merely preliminary. One was to open +the door, another for leave to enter; and as Sainte Marie was a large +house, with several interior doors, at each one of which it behooved them +to repeat this formality, their stock of gifts became seriously reduced +before they reached the room where Father Ragueneau awaited them. +On arriving, they made him a speech, every clause of which was confirmed +by a present. The first was to wipe away his tears; the second, to +restore his voice, which his grief was supposed to have impaired; the +third, to calm the agitation of his mind; and the fourth, to allay the +just anger of his heart. +<a href="#footer_24-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +These gifts consisted of wampum and the +large shells of which it was made, together with other articles, +worthless in any eyes but those of an Indian. Nine additional presents +followed: four for the four posts of the sepulchre or scaffold of the +murdered man; four for the cross-pieces which connected the posts; and +one for a pillow to support his head. Then came eight more, +corresponding to the eight largest bones of the victim's body, and also +to the eight clans of the Hurons. +<a href="#footer_24-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +Ragueneau, as required by +established custom, now made them a present in his turn. It consisted of +three thousand beads of wampum, and was designed to soften the earth, +in order that they might not be hurt, when falling upon it, overpowered +by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">359</a></span> +his reproaches for the enormity of their crime. This closed the +interview, and the deputation withdrew.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01181" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_24-12" name="footer_24-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + Ragueneau himself describes the scene. <i>Relation des Hurons, + 1648</i>, 80. <br /> + <a id="footer_24-13" name="footer_24-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + Ragueneau says, "les huit nations"; but, as the Hurons consisted of + only four, or at most five, nations, he probably means the clans. + For the nature of these divisions, see Introduction.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01183"> +The grand ceremony took place on the next day. A kind of arena had been +prepared, and here were hung the fifty presents in which the atonement +essentially consisted,—the rest, amounting to as many more, being only +accessory. +<a href="#footer_24-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +The Jesuits had the right of examining them all, +rejecting any that did not satisfy them, and demanding others in place of +them. The naked crowd sat silent and attentive, while the orator in the +midst delivered the fifty presents in a series of harangues, which the +tired listener has not thought it necessary to preserve. Then came the +minor gifts, each with its signification explained in turn by the +speaker. First, as a sepulchre had been provided the day before for the +dead man, it was now necessary to clothe and equip him for his journey to +the next world; and to this end three presents were made. They +represented a hat, a coat, a shirt, breeches, stockings, shoes, a gun, +powder, and bullets; but they were in fact something quite different, +as wampum, beaver-skins, and the like. Next came several gifts to close +up the wounds of the slain. Then followed three more. The first closed +the chasm in the earth, which had burst through horror of the crime. +The next trod the ground firm, that it might not open again; and here the +whole assembly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">360</a></span> +rose and danced, as custom required. The last placed a +large stone over the closed gulf, to make it doubly secure.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01184" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_24-14" name="footer_24-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + The number was unusually large,—partly because the affair was + thought very important, and partly because the murdered man belonged to + another nation. See Introduction. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01185"> +Now came another series of presents, seven in number,—to restore the +voices of all the missionaries,—to invite the men in their service to +forget the murder,—to appease the Governor when he should hear of +it,—to light the fire at Sainte Marie,—to open the gate,—to +launch the ferry-boat in which the Huron visitors crossed the river,—and +to give back the paddle to the boy who had charge of the boat. The Fathers, +it seems, had the right of exacting two more presents, to rebuild their +house and church,—supposed to have been shaken to the earth by the late +calamity; but they forbore to urge the claim. Last of all were three +gifts to confirm all the rest, and to entreat the Jesuits to cherish an +undying love for the Hurons.</p> + +<p id="id01186"> +The priests on their part gave presents, as tokens of good-will; and with +that the assembly dispersed. The mission had gained a triumph, and its +influence was greatly strengthened. The future would have been full of +hope, but for the portentous cloud of war that rose, black and wrathful, +from where lay the dens of the Iroquois.</p> + + + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_25" id="Chapter_25"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">361</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01187"><a href="#Contents25">CHAPTER XXV.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1648, 1649.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01188" class="smcapheader">SAINTE MARIE.</p> + <p id="id01189" class="noindent space-bottom"> + The Centre of the Missions • Fort • Convent • + Hospital • Caravansary • Church • + The Inmates of Sainte Marie • Domestic Economy • + Missions • A Meeting of Jesuits • The Dead Missionary + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01191"> +<span class="smcap">The</span> River Wye enters the Bay of Glocester, +an inlet of the Bay of Matchedash, itself an inlet of the vast +Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. Retrace the track of two centuries and +more, and ascend this little stream in the summer of the year 1648. +Your vessel is a birch canoe, and your conductor a Huron Indian. +On the right hand and on the left, gloomy and silent, rise the +primeval woods; but you have advanced scarcely half a league when +the scene is changed, and cultivated fields, planted chiefly with +maize, extend far along the bank, and back to the distant verge of +the forest. Before you opens the small lake from which the +stream issues; and on your left, a stone's throw from the shore, +rises a range of palisades and bastioned walls, inclosing a number of +buildings. Your +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">362</a></span> +canoe enters a canal or ditch immediately above them, +and you land at the Mission, or Residence, or Fort of Sainte Marie.</p> + +<p id="id01192"> +Here was the centre and base of the Huron missions; and now, for once, +one must wish that Jesuit pens had been more fluent. They have told us +but little of Sainte Marie, and even this is to be gathered chiefly from +incidental allusions. In the forest, which long since has resumed its +reign over this memorable spot, the walls and ditches of the +fortifications may still be plainly traced; and the deductions from these +remains are in perfect accord with what we can gather from the +<i>Relations</i> and letters of the priests. +<a href="#footer_25-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +The fortified work which inclosed the +buildings was in the form of a parallelogram, about a hundred and +seventy-five feet long, and from eighty to ninety wide. It lay parallel +with the river, and somewhat more than a hundred feet distant from it. +On two sides it was a continuous wall of masonry, +<a href="#footer_25-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +flanked with +square bastions, adapted to musketry, and probably used as magazines, +storehouses, or lodgings. The sides towards the river and the lake had +no other defences than a ditch and palisade, flanked, like the others, +by bastions, over each of which was displayed a large cross. +<a href="#footer_25-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +The buildings within +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">363</a></span> +were, no doubt, of wood; and they included a church, +a kitchen, a refectory, places of retreat for religious instruction and +meditation, +<a href="#footer_25-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +and lodgings for at least sixty persons. Near the +church, but outside the fortification, was a cemetery. Beyond the ditch +or canal which opened on the river was a large area, still traceable, +in the form of an irregular triangle, surrounded by a ditch, and +apparently by palisades. It seems to have been meant for the protection +of the Indian visitors who came in throngs to Sainte Marie, and who were +lodged in a large house of bark, after the Huron manner. +<a href="#footer_25-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +Here, +perhaps, was also the hospital, which was placed without the walls, +in order that Indian women, as well as men, might be admitted into it. +<a href="#footer_25-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01193" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_25-1" name="footer_25-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Before me is an elaborate plan of the remains, taken on the spot. <br /> + <a id="footer_25-2" name="footer_25-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + It seems probable that the walls, of which the remains may still be + traced, were foundations supporting a wooden superstructure. Ragueneau, + in a letter to the General of the Jesuits, dated March 13, 1650, alludes + to the defences of Saint Marie as "<i>une simple palissade</i>."<br /> + <a id="footer_25-3" name="footer_25-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + "Quatre grandes Croix qui sont aux quatre coins de nostre + enclos."—Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1648</i>, 81.<br /> + <a id="footer_25-4" name="footer_25-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + It seems that these places, besides those for the priests, were of + two kinds,—"vne retraite pour les pelerins (<i>Indians</i>), + enfin vn lieu plus separé, où les infideles, qui n'y + sont admis que de iour au passage, y puissent tousiours receuoir + quelque bon mot pour leur salut."—Lalemant, <i>Relation des + Hurons, 1644</i>, 74.<br /> + <a id="footer_25-5" name="footer_25-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + At least it was so in 1642. "Nous leur auons dressé vn + Hospice ou Cabane d'écorce."—<i>Ibid., 1642</i>, 57.<br /> + <a id="footer_25-6" name="footer_25-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + "Cet hospital est tellement separé de nostre demeure, que non + seulement les hommes et enfans, mais les femmes y peuuent estre + admises."—<i>Ibid., 1644</i>, 74.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01198"> +No doubt the buildings of Sainte Marie were of the roughest,—rude walls +of boards, windows without glass, vast chimneys of unhewn stone. All its +riches were centred in the church, which, as Lalemant tells us, was +regarded by the Indians as one of the wonders of the world, but which, +he adds, would have made but a beggarly show in France. Yet one wonders, +at first thought, how so much labor could have been accomplished here. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">364</a></span> +Of late years, however, the number of men at the command of the mission +had been considerable. Soldiers had been sent up from time to time, +to escort the Fathers on their way, and defend them on their arrival. +Thus, in 1644, Montmagny ordered twenty men of a reinforcement just +arrived from France to escort Brébeuf, Garreau, and Chabanel to the +Hurons, and remain there during the winter. +<a href="#footer_25-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +These soldiers lodged +with the Jesuits, and lived at their table. +<a href="#footer_25-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +It was not, however, +on detachments of troops that they mainly relied for labor or defence. +Any inhabitant of Canada who chose to undertake so hard and dangerous a +service was allowed to do so, receiving only his maintenance from the +mission, without pay. In return, he was allowed to trade with the +Indians, and sell the furs thus obtained at the magazine of the Company, +at a fixed price. +<a href="#footer_25-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +Many availed themselves of this permission; and all whose +services were accepted by the Jesuits seem to have been men to whom they +had communicated no small portion of their own zeal, and who were +enthusiastically attached to their Order and their cause. There is +abundant evidence that a large proportion of them acted from motives +wholly disinterested. They were, in fact, <i>donnés</i> of the mission, +<a href="#footer_25-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a>—given, +heart and hand, to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">365</a></span> +its service. There is probability in the +conjecture, that the profits of their trade with the Indians were reaped, +not for their own behoof, but for that of the mission. +<a href="#footer_25-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +It is +difficult otherwise to explain the confidence with which the Father +Superior, in a letter to the General of the Jesuits at Rome, speaks of +its resources. He says, "Though our number is greatly increased, and +though we still hope for more men, and especially for more priests of our +Society, it is not necessary to increase the pecuniary aid given us." +<a href="#footer_25-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01199" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_25-7" name="footer_25-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + Vimont, <i>Relation, 1644</i>, 49. He adds, that some of these + soldiers, though they had once been "assez mauvais garçons," + had shown great zeal and devotion in behalf of the mission.<br /> + <a id="footer_25-8" name="footer_25-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + <i>Journal des Supérieurs des Jésuites</i>, MS. + In 1648, a small cannon was sent to Sainte Marie in the Huron + canoes.—<i>Ibid</i>. <br /> + <a id="footer_25-9" name="footer_25-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + <i>Registres des Arrêts du Conseil</i>, extract in Faillon, + II. 94.<br /> + <a id="footer_25-10" name="footer_25-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + See <i>ante</i>, <a href="#Page_214">(Page 214)</a>. + Garnier calls them "séculiers d'habit, mais religieux de + <ins title="Add end-quote after couer."> + cœur."—<i>Lettres</i>,</ins> + MSS.<br /> + <a id="footer_25-11" name="footer_25-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + The Jesuits, even at this early period, were often and loudly + charged with sharing in the fur-trade. It is certain that this charge + was not wholly without foundation. Le Jeune, in the <i>Relation</i> + of 1657, speaking of the wampum, guns, powder, lead, hatchets, kettles, + and other articles which the missionaries were obliged to give to the + Indians, at councils and elsewhere, says that these must be bought from + the traders with beaver-skins, which are the money of the country; and + he adds, "Que si vn Iesuite en reçoit ou en recueille + quelques-vns pour ayder aux frais immenses qu'il faut faire dans ces + Missions si éloignées, et pour gagner ces peuples + à Iesus-Christ et les porter à la paix, il seroit + à souhaiter que ceux-là mesme qui deuroient faire ces + despenses pour la conseruation du pays, ne fussent pas du moins les + premiers à condamner le zele de ces Peres, et à les + rendre par leurs discours plus noirs que leurs + robes."—<i>Relation, 1657</i>, 16.</p> + <p id="id01203"> + In the same year, Chaumonot, addressing a council of the Iroquois during + a period of truce, said, "Keep your beaver-skins, if you choose, for the + Dutch. Even such of them as may fall into our possession will be + employed for your service."—<i>Ibid.</i>, 17.</p> + <p id="id01204"> + In 1636, La Jeune thought it necessary to write a long letter of defence + against the charge; and in 1643, a declaration, appended to the + <i>Relation</i> of that year, and certifying that the Jesuits took no + part in the fur-trade, was drawn up and signed by twelve members of + the company of New France. Its only meaning is, that the Jesuits were + neither partners nor rivals of the Company's monopoly. They certainly + bought supplies from its magazines with furs which they obtained from + the Indians.</p> + <p id="id01205"> + Their object evidently was to make the mission partially + self-supporting. To impute mercenary motives to Garnier, Jogues, + and their co-laborers, is manifestly idle; but, even in the + highest flights of his enthusiasm, the Jesuit never forgot his + worldly wisdom.</p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_25-12" name="footer_25-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + <i>Lettre du P. Paul Ragueneau au T. R. P. Vincent Carafa, + Général de la Compagnie de Jésus à + Rome, Sainte Marie aux Hurons, 1 Mars, 1649</i> (Carayon).<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01207"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">366</a></span> +Much of this prosperity was no doubt due to the excellent management of +their resources, and a very successful agriculture. While the Indians +around them were starving, they raised maize in such quantities, that, +in the spring of 1649, the Father Superior thought that their stock of +provisions might suffice for three years. "Hunting and fishing," he says, +"are better than heretofore"; and he adds, that they had fowls, swine, +and even cattle. +<a href="#footer_25-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +How they could have brought these last to Sainte +Marie it is difficult to conceive. The feat, under the circumstances, +is truly astonishing. Everything indicates a fixed resolve on the part +of the Fathers to build up a solid and permanent establishment.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01208" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_25-13" name="footer_25-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + <i>Lettre du P. Paul Ragueneau au T. R. P. Vincent Carafa, + Général de la Compagnie de Jésus + à Rome, Sainte Marie aux Hurons, 1 Mars, 1649</i> + (Carayon). <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01209"> +It is by no means to be inferred that the household fared sumptuously. +Their ordinary food was maize, pounded and boiled, and seasoned, in the +absence of salt, which was regarded as a luxury, with morsels of smoked +fish. +<a href="#footer_25-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_25-14" name="footer_25-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1648</i>, 48. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01210"> +In March, 1649, there were in the Huron country and its neighborhood +eighteen Jesuit priests, four lay brothers, twenty-three men serving +without pay, seven hired men, four boys, and eight soldiers. +<a href="#footer_25-15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +Of this number, fifteen priests were engaged in the various missions, +while all the rest were retained permanently at Sainte Marie. All was +method, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">367</a></span> +discipline, and subordination. Some of the men were assigned to +household work, and some to the hospital; while the rest labored at the +fortifications, tilled the fields, and stood ready, in case of need, +to fight the Iroquois. The Father Superior, with two other priests as +assistants, controlled and guided all. The remaining Jesuits, +undisturbed by temporal cares, were devoted exclusively to the charge of +their respective missions. Two or three times in the year, they all, +or nearly all, assembled at Sainte Marie, to take counsel together and +determine their future action. Hither, also, they came at intervals for +a period of meditation and prayer, to nerve themselves and gain new +inspiration for their stern task.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01211" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_25-15" name="footer_25-15"></a> + <span class="superscript">[15]</span> + See the report of the Father Superior to the General, above cited. + The number was greatly increased within the year. In April, 1648, + Ragueneau reports but forty-two French in all, including priests. + Before the end of the summer a large reinforcement came up in the Huron + canoes. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01212"> +Besides being the citadel and the magazine of the mission, Sainte Marie +was the scene of a bountiful hospitality. On every alternate Saturday, +as well as on feast-days, the converts came in crowds from the farthest +villages. They were entertained during Saturday, Sunday, and a part of +Monday; and the rites of the Church were celebrated before them with all +possible solemnity and pomp. They were welcomed also at other times, +and entertained, usually with three meals to each. In these latter years +the prevailing famine drove them to Sainte Marie in swarms. In the +course of 1647 three thousand were lodged and fed here; and in the +following year the number was doubled. +<a href="#footer_25-16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +Heathen Indians were also received and supplied with food, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">368</a></span> +but were not +permitted to remain at night. There was provision for the soul as well +as the body; and, Christian or heathen, few left Sainte Marie without a +word of instruction or exhortation. Charity was an instrument of +conversion.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_25-16" name="footer_25-16"></a> + <span class="superscript">[16]</span> + Compare Ragueneau in <i>Relation des Hurons, 1648</i>, 48, + and in his report to the General in 1649.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01213"> +Such, so far as we can reconstruct it from the scattered hints remaining, +was this singular establishment, at once military, monastic, and +patriarchal. The missions of which it was the basis were now eleven in +number. To those among the Hurons already mentioned another had lately +been added,—that of Sainte Madeleine; and two others, called St. Jean +and St. Matthias, had been established in the neighboring Tobacco Nation. +<a href="#footer_25-17"><span class="superscript">[17]</span></a> +The three remaining missions were all among tribes speaking the +Algonquin languages. Every winter, bands of these savages, driven by +famine and fear of the Iroquois, sought harborage in the Huron country, +and the mission of Sainte Elisabeth was established for their benefit. +The next Algonquin mission was that of Saint Esprit, embracing the +Nipissings and other tribes east and north-east of Lake Huron; and, +lastly, the mission of St. Pierre included the tribes at the outlet of +Lake Superior, and throughout a vast extent of surrounding wilderness. +<a href="#footer_25-18"><span class="superscript">[18]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01214" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_25-17" name="footer_25-17"></a> + <span class="superscript">[17]</span> + The mission of the Neutral Nation had been abandoned for the time, + from the want of missionaries. The Jesuits had resolved on concentration, + and on the thorough conversion of the Hurons, as a preliminary to more + extended efforts. <br /> + <a id="footer_25-18" name="footer_25-18"></a> + <span class="superscript">[18]</span> + Besides these tribes, the Jesuits had become more or less acquainted + with many others, also Algonquin, on the west and south of Lake Huron; + as well as with the Puans, or Winnebagoes, a Dacotah tribe between Lake + Michigan and the Mississippi.</p> + <p id="id01216"> + The Mission of Sault Sainte Marie, at the outlet of Lake Superior, + was established at a later period. Modern writers have confounded it + with Sainte Marie of the Hurons.</p> + <p id="id01217"> + By the <i>Relation</i> of 1649 it appears that another mission had lately been + begun at the Grand Manitoulin Island, which the Jesuits also christened + Isle Sainte Marie.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01218"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">369</a></span> +These missions were more laborious, though not more perilous, than those +among the Hurons. The Algonquin hordes were never long at rest; and, +summer and winter, the priest must follow them by lake, forest, and +stream: in summer plying the paddle all day, or toiling through pathless +thickets, bending under the weight of a birch canoe or a load of +baggage,—at night, his bed the rugged earth, or some bare rock, lashed +by the restless waves of Lake Huron; while famine, the snow-storms, +the cold, the treacherous ice of the Great Lakes, smoke, filth, and, +not rarely, threats and persecution, were the lot of his winter +wanderings. It seemed an earthly paradise, when, at long intervals, +he found a respite from his toils among his brother Jesuits under the +roof of Sainte Marie.</p> + +<p id="id01219"> +Hither, while the Fathers are gathered from their scattered stations at +one of their periodical meetings,—a little before the season of Lent, +1649, +<a href="#footer_25-19"><span class="superscript">[19]</span></a>—let +us, too, repair, and join them. We enter at the eastern +gate of the fortification, midway in the wall between its northern and +southern bastions, and pass to the hall, where, at a rude table, spread +with ruder fare, all the household are assembled,—laborers, domestics, +soldiers, and priests.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01220" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_25-19" name="footer_25-19"></a> + <span class="superscript">[19]</span> + The date of this meeting is a supposition merely. It is adopted + with reference to events which preceded and followed.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01221"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">370</a></span> +It was a scene that might recall a remote half feudal, half patriarchal +age, when, under the smoky rafters of his antique hall, some warlike +thane sat, with kinsmen and dependants ranged down the long board, +each in his degree. Here, doubtless, Ragueneau, the Father Superior, +held the place of honor; and, for chieftains scarred with Danish +battle-axes, was seen a band of thoughtful men, clad in a threadbare garb +of black, their brows swarthy from exposure, yet marked with the lines of +intellect and a fixed enthusiasm of purpose. Here was Bressani, scarred +with firebrand and knife; Chabanel, once a professor of rhetoric in +France, now a missionary, bound by a self-imposed vow to a life from +which his nature recoiled; the fanatical Chaumonot, whose character +savored of his peasant birth,—for the grossest fungus of superstition +that ever grew under the shadow of Rome was not too much for his +omnivorous credulity, and miracles and mysteries were his daily food; yet, +such as his faith was, he was ready to die for it. Garnier, beardless +like a woman, was of a far finer nature. His religion was of the +affections and the sentiments; and his imagination, warmed with the ardor +of his faith, shaped the ideal forms of his worship into visible +realities. Brébeuf sat conspicuous among his brethren, portly and tall, +his short moustache and beard grizzled with time,—for he was fifty-six +years old. If he seemed impassive, it was because one overmastering +principle had merged and absorbed all the impulses of his nature and all +the faculties of his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">371</a></span> +mind. The enthusiasm which with many is fitful and +spasmodic was with him the current of his life,—solemn and deep as the +tide of destiny. The Divine Trinity, the Virgin, the Saints, Heaven and +Hell, Angels and Fiends,—to him, these alone were real, and all things +else were nought. Gabriel Lalemant, nephew of Jerome Lalemant, Superior +at Quebec, was Brébeuf's colleague at the mission of St. Ignace. His +slender frame and delicate features gave him an appearance of youth, +though he had reached middle life; and, as in the case of Garnier, +the fervor of his mind sustained him through exertions of which he seemed +physically incapable. Of the rest of that company little has come down +to us but the bare record of their missionary toils; and we may ask in +vain what youthful enthusiasm, what broken hope or faded dream, turned +the current of their lives, and sent them from the heart of civilization +to this savage outpost of the world.</p> + +<p id="id01222"> +No element was wanting in them for the achievement of such a success as +that to which they aspired,—neither a transcendent zeal, nor a matchless +discipline, nor a practical sagacity very seldom surpassed in the +pursuits where men strive for wealth and place; and if they were destined +to disappointment, it was the result of external causes, against which no +power of theirs could have insured them.</p> + +<p id="id01223"> +There was a gap in their number. The place of Antoine Daniel was empty, +and never more to be filled by him,—never at least in the flesh: +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">372</a></span> +for +Chaumonot averred, that not long since, when the Fathers were met in +council, he had seen their dead companion seated in their midst, as of +old, with a countenance radiant and majestic. +<a href="#footer_25-20"><span class="superscript">[20]</span></a> +They believed his +story,—no doubt he believed it himself; and they consoled one another +with the thought, that, in losing their colleague on earth, they had +gained him as a powerful intercessor in heaven. Daniel's station had +been at St. Joseph; but the mission and the missionary had alike ceased +to exist.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01224" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_25-20" name="footer_25-20"></a> + <span class="superscript">[20]</span> + "Ce bon Pere s'apparut aprés sa mort à vn des nostres + par deux diuerses fois. En l'vne il se fit voir en estat de gloire, + portant le visage d'vn homme d'enuiron trente ans, quoy qu'il soit + mort en l'âge de quarante-huict.… Vne autre fois il + fut veu assister à vne assemblée que nous tenions," + etc.—Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1649</i>, 5.</p> + <p id="id01225"> + "Le P. Chaumonot vit au milieu de l'assemblée le P. Daniel + qui aidait les Pères de ses conseils, et les remplissait + d'une force surnaturelle; son visage était plein de + majesté et d'éclat."—Ibid., <i>Lettre au + Général de la Compagnie de Jésus</i> + (Carayon, 243).</p> + <p id="id01226"> + "Le P. Chaumonot nous a quelque fois raconté, à + la gloire de cet illustre confesseur de J. C. (<i>Daniel</i>) qu'il + s'étoit fait voir à lui dans la gloire, à + l'âge d'environ 30 ans, quoiqu'il en eut près de 50, + et avec les autres circonstances qui se trouuent là (<i>in + the Historia Canadensis of Du Creux</i>). Il ajoutait seulement + qu'à la vue de ce bien-heureux tant de choses lui vinrent + à l'esprit pour les lui demander, qu'il ne savoit pas + où commencer son entretien avec ce cher défunt. + Enfin, lui dit-il: 'Apprenez moi, mon Père, ce que ie dois + faire pour être bien agréable à + Dieu.'—'Jamais,' répondit le martyr, 'ne perdez le + souvenir de vos péchés.'"—<i>Suite de la Vie + de Chaumonot</i>, 11. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_26" id="Chapter_26"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">373</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01227"><a href="#Contents26">CHAPTER XXVI.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1648.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01228" class="smcapheader">ANTOINE DANIEL.</p> + <p id="id01229" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Huron Traders • Battle at Three Rivers • + St. Joseph • Onset of the Iroquois • + Death of Daniel • The Town Destroyed + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01231"> +<span class="smcap">In</span> the summer of 1647 the Hurons dared not +go down to the French settlements, but in the following year they took +heart, and resolved at all risks to make the attempt; for the kettles, +hatchets, and knives of the traders had become necessaries of life. +Two hundred and fifty of their best warriors therefore embarked, under +five valiant chiefs. They made the voyage in safety, approached Three +Rivers on the seventeenth of July, and, running their canoes ashore +among the bulrushes, began to grease their hair, paint their faces, +and otherwise adorn themselves, that they might appear after a +befitting fashion at the fort. While they were thus engaged, the +alarm was sounded. Some of their warriors had discovered a large +body of Iroquois, who for several days had been lurking in the forest, +unknown to the French garrison, watching their opportunity to strike +a blow. The Hurons +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">374</a></span> + snatched their arms, and, half-greased and painted, +ran to meet them. The Iroquois received them with a volley. They +fell flat to avoid the shot, then leaped up with a furious yell, and +sent back a shower of arrows and bullets. The Iroquois, who were +outnumbered, gave way and fled, excepting a few who for a time made +fight with their knives. The Hurons pursued. Many prisoners were +taken, and many dead left on the field. +<a href="#footer_26-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +The rout of the enemy was complete; and when their trade +was ended, the Hurons returned home in triumph, decorated with the +laurels and the scalps of victory. As it proved, it would have been well, +had they remained there to defend their families and firesides.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_26-1" name="footer_26-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1648</i>, 11. The Jesuit Bressani had come + down with the Hurons, and was with them in the fight. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01232"> +The oft-mentioned town of Teanaustayé, or St. Joseph, lay on the +south-eastern frontier of the Huron country, near the foot of a range of +forest-covered hills, and about fifteen miles from Sainte Marie. It had +been the chief town of the nation, and its population, by the Indian +standard, was still large; for it had four hundred families, and at least +two thousand inhabitants. It was well fortified with palisades, after +the Huron manner, and was esteemed the chief bulwark of the country. +Here countless Iroquois had been burned and devoured. Its people had +been truculent and intractable heathen, but many of them had surrendered +to the Faith, and for four years past Father Daniel had preached among +them with excellent results.</p> + +<p id="id01233"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">375</a></span> +On the morning of the fourth of July, when the forest around basked +lazily in the early sun, you might have mounted the rising ground on +which the town stood, and passed unchallenged through the opening in the +palisade. Within, you would have seen the crowded dwellings of bark, +shaped like the arched coverings of huge baggage-wagons, and decorated +with the <i>totems</i> or armorial devices of their owners daubed on the +outside with paint. Here some squalid wolfish dog lay sleeping in the +sun, a group of Huron girls chatted together in the shade, old squaws +pounded corn in large wooden mortars, idle youths gambled with +cherry-stones on a wooden platter, and naked infants crawled in the dust. +Scarcely a warrior was to be seen. Some were absent in quest of game or +of Iroquois scalps, and some had gone with the trading-party to the +French settlements. You followed the foul passage-ways among the houses, +and at length came to the church. It was full to the door. Daniel had +just finished the mass, and his flock still knelt at their devotions. +It was but the day before that he had returned to them, warmed with new +fervor, from his meditations in retreat at Sainte Marie. Suddenly an +uproar of voices, shrill with terror, burst upon the languid silence of +the town. "The Iroquois! the Iroquois!" A crowd of hostile warriors had +issued from the forest, and were rushing across the clearing, towards the +opening in the palisade. Daniel ran out of the church, and hurried to +the point of danger. Some snatched weapons; some rushed to and fro in +the madness +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">376</a></span> + of a blind panic. The priest rallied the defenders; promised +Heaven to those who died for their homes and their faith; then hastened +from house to house, calling on unbelievers to repent and receive baptism, +to snatch them from the Hell that yawned to ingulf them. They crowded +around him, imploring to be saved; and, immersing his handkerchief in a +bowl of water, he shook it over them, and baptized them by aspersion. +They pursued him, as he ran again to the church, where he found a throng +of women, children, and old men, gathered as in a sanctuary. Some cried +for baptism, some held out their children to receive it, some begged for +absolution, and some wailed in terror and despair. "Brothers," he +exclaimed again and again, as he shook the baptismal drops from his +handkerchief,—"brothers, to-day we shall be in Heaven."</p> + +<p id="id01234"> +The fierce yell of the war-whoop now rose close at hand. The palisade +was forced, and the enemy was in the town. The air quivered with the +infernal din. "Fly!" screamed the priest, driving his flock before him. +"I will stay here. We shall meet again in Heaven." Many of them escaped +through an opening in the palisade opposite to that by which the Iroquois +had entered; but Daniel would not follow, for there still might be souls +to rescue from perdition. The hour had come for which he had long +prepared himself. In a moment he saw the Iroquois, and came forth from +the church to meet them. When they saw him in turn, radiant in the +vestments of his office, confronting them with a look kindled with the +inspiration +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">377</a></span> + of martyrdom, they stopped and stared in amazement; then +recovering themselves, bent their bows, and showered him with a volley of +arrows, that tore through his robes and his flesh. A gunshot followed; +the ball pierced his heart, and he fell dead, gasping the name of Jesus. +They rushed upon him with yells of triumph, stripped him naked, gashed +and hacked his lifeless body, and, scooping his blood in their hands, +bathed their faces in it to make them brave. The town was in a blaze; +when the flames reached the church, they flung the priest into it, +and both were consumed together. +<a href="#footer_26-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01235" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_26-2" name="footer_26-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1649</i>, 3-5; Bressani, + <i>Relation Abrégée</i>, 247; Du Creux, + <i>Historia Canadensis</i>, 524; Tanner, <i>Societas + Jesu Militans</i>, 531; Marie de l'Incarnation, + <i>Lettre aux Ursulines de Tours, Quebec, 1649</i>.</p> + <p id="id01236"> + Daniel was born at Dieppe, and was forty-eight years old at the time of + his death. He had been a Jesuit from the age of twenty. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01237"> +Teanaustayé was a heap of ashes, and the victors took up their march with +a train of nearly seven hundred prisoners, many of whom they killed on +the way. Many more had been slain in the town and the neighboring forest, +where the pursuers hunted them down, and where women, crouching for +refuge among thickets, were betrayed by the cries and wailing of their +infants.</p> + +<p id="id01238"> +The triumph of the Iroquois did not end here; for a neighboring fortified +town, included within the circle of Daniel's mission, shared the fate of +Teanaustayé. Never had the Huron nation received such a blow.</p> + + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_27" id="Chapter_27"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">378</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01239"><a href="#Contents27">CHAPTER XXVII.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1649.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01240" class="smcapheader">RUIN OF THE HURONS.</p> + <p id="id01241" class="noindent space-bottom"> + St. Louis on Fire • Invasion • + St. Ignace captured • Brébeuf and Lalemant • + Battle at St. Louis • Sainte Marie threatened • + Renewed Fighting • Desperate Conflict • + A Night of Suspense • Panic among the Victors • + Burning of St. Ignace • Retreat of the Iroquois + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01243"> +<span class="smcap">More</span> than eight months had passed since the +catastrophe of St. Joseph. The winter was over, and that dreariest of +seasons had come, the churlish forerunner of spring. Around Sainte +Marie the forests were gray and bare, and, in the cornfields, the +oozy, half-thawed soil, studded with the sodden stalks of the last +autumn's harvest, showed itself in patches through the melting +snow.</p> + +<p id="id01244"> +At nine o'clock on the morning of the sixteenth of March, the priests saw +a heavy smoke rising over the naked forest towards the south-east, +about three miles distant. They looked at each other in dismay. "The +Iroquois! They are burning St. Louis!" Flames mingled with the smoke; +and, as they stood gazing, two Christian Hurons came, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">379</a></span> +breathless and +aghast, from the burning town. Their worst fear was realized. The +Iroquois were there; but where were the priests of the mission, +Brébeuf and Lalemant?</p> + +<p id="id01245"> +Late in the autumn, a thousand Iroquois, chiefly Senecas and Mohawks, +had taken the war-path for the Hurons. They had been all winter in the +forests, hunting for subsistence, and moving at their leisure towards +their prey. The destruction of the two towns of the mission of +St. Joseph had left a wide gap, and in the middle of March they entered +the heart of the Huron country, undiscovered. Common vigilance and +common sense would have averted the calamities that followed; but the +Hurons were like a doomed people, stupefied, sunk in dejection, fearing +everything, yet taking no measures for defence. They could easily have +met the invaders with double their force, but the besotted warriors lay +idle in their towns, or hunted at leisure in distant forests; nor could +the Jesuits, by counsel or exhortation, rouse them to face the danger.</p> + +<p id="id01246"> +Before daylight of the sixteenth, the invaders approached St. Ignace, +which, with St. Louis and three other towns, formed the mission of the +same name. They reconnoitred the place in the darkness. It was defended +on three sides by a deep ravine, and further strengthened by palisades +fifteen or sixteen feet high, planted under the direction of the Jesuits. +On the fourth side it was protected by palisades alone; and these were +left, as usual, unguarded. This was not from a sense of security; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">380</a></span> + for +the greater part of the population had abandoned the town, thinking it +too much exposed to the enemy, and there remained only about four hundred, +chiefly women, children, and old men, whose infatuated defenders were +absent hunting, or on futile scalping-parties against the Iroquois. +It was just before dawn, when a yell, as of a legion of devils, startled +the wretched inhabitants from their sleep; and the Iroquois, bursting in +upon them, cut them down with knives and hatchets, killing many, and +reserving the rest for a worse fate. They had entered by the weakest +side; on the other sides there was no exit, and only three Hurons +escaped. The whole was the work of a few minutes. The Iroquois left a +guard to hold the town, and secure the retreat of the main body in case +of a reverse; then, smearing their faces with blood, after their ghastly +custom, they rushed, in the dim light of the early dawn, towards +St. Louis, about a league distant.</p> + +<p id="id01247"> +The three fugitives had fled, half naked, through the forest, for the +same point, which they reached about sunrise, yelling the alarm. The +number of inhabitants here was less, at this time, than seven hundred; +and, of these, all who had strength to escape, excepting about eighty +warriors, made in wild terror for a place of safety. Many of the old, +sick, and decrepit were left perforce in the lodges. The warriors, +ignorant of the strength of the assailants, sang their war-songs, and +resolved to hold the place to the last. It had not the natural strength +of St. Ignace; but, like it, was surrounded by palisades.</p> + +<p id="id01248"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">381</a></span> +Here were the two Jesuits, Brébeuf and Lalemant. Brébeuf's converts +entreated him to escape with them; but the Norman zealot, bold scion of a +warlike stock, had no thought of flight. His post was in the teeth of +danger, to cheer on those who fought, and open Heaven to those who fell. +His colleague, slight of frame and frail of constitution, trembled +despite himself; but deep enthusiasm mastered the weakness of Nature, +and he, too, refused to fly.</p> + +<p id="id01249"> +Scarcely had the sun risen, and scarcely were the fugitives gone, when, +like a troop of tigers, the Iroquois rushed to the assault. Yell echoed +yell, and shot answered shot. The Hurons, brought to bay, fought with +the utmost desperation, and with arrows, stones, and the few guns they +had, killed thirty of their assailants, and wounded many more. Twice the +Iroquois recoiled, and twice renewed the attack with unabated ferocity. +They swarmed at the foot of the palisades, and hacked at them with their +hatchets, till they had cut them through at several different points. +For a time there was a deadly fight at these breaches. Here were the two +priests, promising Heaven to those who died for their faith,—one giving +baptism, and the other absolution. At length the Iroquois broke in, +and captured all the surviving defenders, the Jesuits among the rest. +They set the town on fire; and the helpless wretches who had remained, +unable to fly, were consumed in their burning dwellings. Next they fell +upon Brébeuf and Lalemant, stripped them, bound them fast, and led them +with the other +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">382</a></span> +prisoners back to St. Ignace, where all turned out to +wreak their fury on the two priests, beating them savagely with sticks +and clubs as they drove them into the town. At present, there was no +time for further torture, for there was work in hand.</p> + +<p id="id01250"> +The victors divided themselves into several bands, to burn the +neighboring villages and hunt their flying inhabitants. In the flush of +their triumph, they meditated a bolder enterprise; and, in the afternoon, +their chiefs sent small parties to reconnoitre Sainte Marie, with a view +to attacking it on the next day.</p> + +<p id="id01251"> +Meanwhile the fugitives of St. Louis, joined by other bands as terrified +and as helpless as they, were struggling through the soft snow which +clogged the forests towards Lake Huron, where the treacherous ice of +spring was still unmelted. One fear expelled another. They ventured +upon it, and pushed forward all that day and all the following night, +shivering and famished, to find refuge in the towns of the Tobacco +Nation. Here, when they arrived, they spread a universal panic.</p> + +<p id="id01252"> +Ragueneau, Bressani, and their companions waited in suspense at Sainte +Marie. On the one hand, they trembled for Brébeuf and Lalemant; on the +other, they looked hourly for an attack: and when at evening they saw the +Iroquois scouts prowling along the edge of the bordering forest, their +fears were confirmed. They had with them about forty Frenchmen, well +armed; but their palisades and wooden buildings were not fire-proof, +and they had learned from fugitives the number and ferocity of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">383</a></span> +the +invaders. They stood guard all night, praying to the Saints, and above +all to their great patron, Saint Joseph, whose festival was close at hand.</p> + +<p id="id01253"> +In the morning they were somewhat relieved by the arrival of about three +hundred Huron warriors, chiefly converts from La Conception and Sainte +Madeleine, tolerably well armed, and full of fight. They were expecting +others to join them; and meanwhile, dividing into several bands, they +took post by the passes of the neighboring forest, hoping to waylay +parties of the enemy. Their expectation was fulfilled; for, at this time, +two hundred of the Iroquois were making their way from St. Ignace, +in advance of the main body, to begin the attack on Sainte Marie. +They fell in with a band of the Hurons, set upon them, killed many, +drove the rest to headlong flight, and, as they plunged in terror through +the snow, chased them within sight of Sainte Marie. The other Hurons, +hearing the yells and firing, ran to the rescue, and attacked so fiercely, +that the Iroquois in turn were routed, and ran for shelter to St. Louis, +followed closely by the victors. The houses of the town had been burned, +but the palisade around them was still standing, though breached and +broken. The Iroquois rushed in; but the Hurons were at their heels. +Many of the fugitives were captured, the rest killed or put to utter rout, +and the triumphant Hurons remained masters of the place.</p> + +<p id="id01254"> +The Iroquois who escaped fled to St. Ignace. Here, or on the way thither, +they found the main +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">384</a></span> +body of the invaders; and when they heard of the +disaster, the whole swarm, beside themselves with rage, turned towards +St. Louis to take their revenge. Now ensued one of the most furious +Indian battles on record. The Hurons within the palisade did not much +exceed a hundred and fifty; for many had been killed or disabled, and +many, perhaps, had straggled away. Most of their enemies had guns, +while they had but few. Their weapons were bows and arrows, war-clubs, +hatchets, and knives; and of these they made good use, sallying +repeatedly, fighting like devils, and driving back their assailants again +and again. There are times when the Indian warrior forgets his cautious +maxims, and throws himself into battle with a mad and reckless ferocity. +The desperation of one party, and the fierce courage of both, kept up the +fight after the day had closed; and the scout from Sainte Marie, as he +bent listening under the gloom of the pines, heard, far into the night, +the howl of battle rising from the darkened forest. The principal chief +of the Iroquois was severely wounded, and nearly a hundred of their +warriors were killed on the spot. When, at length, their numbers and +persistent fury prevailed, their only prize was some twenty Huron +warriors, spent with fatigue and faint with loss of blood. The rest lay +dead around the shattered palisades which they had so valiantly defended. +Fatuity, not cowardice, was the ruin of the Huron nation.</p> + +<p id="id01255"> +The lamps burned all night at Sainte Marie, and its defenders stood +watching till daylight, musket +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">385</a></span> +in hand. The Jesuits prayed without +ceasing, and Saint Joseph was besieged with invocations. "Those of us +who were priests," writes Ragueneau, "each made a vow to say a mass in +his honor every month, for the space of a year; and all the rest bound +themselves by vows to divers penances." The expected onslaught did not +take place. Not an Iroquois appeared. Their victory had been bought too +dear, and they had no stomach for more fighting. All the next day, +the eighteenth, a stillness, like the dead lull of a tempest, followed +the turmoil of yesterday,—as if, says the Father Superior, "the country +were waiting, palsied with fright, for some new disaster."</p> + +<p id="id01256"> +On the following day,—the journalist fails not to mention that it was +the festival of Saint Joseph,—Indians came in with tidings that a panic +had seized the Iroquois camp, that the chiefs could not control it, +and that the whole body of invaders was retreating in disorder, possessed +with a vague terror that the Hurons were upon them in force. They had +found time, however, for an act of atrocious cruelty. They planted +stakes in the bark houses of St. Ignace, and bound to them those of their +prisoners whom they meant to sacrifice, male and female, from old age to +infancy, husbands, mothers, and children, side by side. Then, as they +retreated, they set the town on fire, and laughed with savage glee at the +shrieks of anguish that rose from the blazing dwellings. +<a href="#footer_27-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01257" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_27-1" name="footer_27-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + The site of St. Ignace still bears evidence of the catastrophe, in the + ashes and charcoal that indicate the position of the houses, and the + fragments of broken pottery and half-consumed bone, together with + trinkets of stone, metal, or glass, which have survived the lapse of two + centuries and more. The place has been minutely examined by Dr. + Taché. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01258"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">386</a></span> +They loaded the rest of their prisoners with their baggage and plunder, +and drove them through the forest southward, braining with their hatchets +any who gave out on the march. An old woman, who had escaped out of the +midst of the flames of St. Ignace, made her way to St. Michel, a large +town not far from the desolate site of St. Joseph. Here she found about +seven hundred Huron warriors, hastily mustered. She set them on the +track of the retreating Iroquois, and they took up the chase,—but +evidently with no great eagerness to overtake their dangerous enemy, +well armed as he was with Dutch guns, while they had little beside their +bows and arrows. They found, as they advanced, the dead bodies of +prisoners tomahawked on the march, and others bound fast to trees and +half burned by the fagots piled hastily around them. The Iroquois pushed +forward with such headlong speed, that the pursuers could not, or would +not, overtake them; and, after two days, they gave over the attempt.</p> + + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_28" id="Chapter_28"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">387</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01259"><a href="#Contents28">CHAPTER XXVIII.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1649.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01260" class="smcapheader">THE MARTYRS.</p> + <p id="id01261" class="noindent space-bottom"> + The Ruins of St. Ignace • The Relics found • + Brébeuf at the Stake • His + <ins title="Capitalize Unconquerable to match the topic list in the Contents section."> + U</ins>nconquerable Fortitude • + Lalemant • Renegade Hurons • Iroquois Atrocities • + Death of Brébeuf • His Character • + Death of Lalemant + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01263"> +<span class="smcap">On</span> the morning of the twentieth, the +Jesuits at Sainte Marie received full confirmation of the reported +retreat of the invaders; and one of them, with seven armed Frenchmen, +set out for the scene of havoc. They passed St. Louis, where the +bloody ground was strown thick with corpses, and, two or three miles +farther on, reached St. Ignace. Here they saw a spectacle of horror; +for among the ashes of the burnt town were scattered in profusion the +half-consumed bodies of those who had perished in the flames. Apart +from the rest, they saw a sight that banished all else from their +thoughts; for they found what they had come to seek,—the +scorched and mangled relics of Brébeuf and Lalemant. +<a href="#footer_28-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01264" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_28-1" name="footer_28-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + "Ils y trouuerent vn spectacle d'horreur, les restes de la + cruauté mesme, ou plus tost les restes de l'amour de Dieu, + qui seul triomphe dans la mort des Martyrs."—Ragueneau, + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1649</i>, 13. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01265"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">388</a></span> +They had learned their fate already from Huron prisoners, many of whom +had made their escape in the panic and confusion of the Iroquois retreat. +They described what they had seen, and the condition in which the bodies +were found confirmed their story.</p> + +<p id="id01266"> +On the afternoon of the sixteenth,—the day when the two priests were +captured,—Brébeuf was led apart, and bound to a stake. He seemed +more concerned for his captive converts than for himself, and addressed them +in a loud voice, exhorting them to suffer patiently, and promising Heaven +as their reward. The Iroquois, incensed, scorched him from head to foot, +to silence him; whereupon, in the tone of a master, he threatened them +with everlasting flames, for persecuting the worshippers of God. As he +continued to speak, with voice and countenance unchanged, they cut away +his lower lip and thrust a red-hot iron down his throat. He still held +his tall form erect and defiant, with no sign or sound of pain; and they +tried another means to overcome him. They led out Lalemant, that Brébeuf +might see him tortured. They had tied strips of bark, smeared with pitch, +about his naked body. When he saw the condition of his Superior, he +could not hide his agitation, and called out to him, with a broken voice, +in the words of Saint Paul, "We are made a spectacle to the world, +to angels, and to men." Then he threw himself at Brébeuf's feet; upon +which the Iroquois seized him, made him fast to a stake, and set fire to +the bark that enveloped him. As the flame rose, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">389</a></span> +he threw his arms upward, +with a shriek of supplication to Heaven. Next they hung around Brébeuf's +neck a collar made of hatchets heated red-hot; but the indomitable priest +stood like a rock. A Huron in the crowd, who had been a convert of the +mission, but was now an Iroquois by adoption, called out, with the malice +of a renegade, to pour hot water on their heads, since they had poured so +much cold water on those of others. The kettle was accordingly slung, +and the water boiled and poured slowly on the heads of the two +missionaries. "We baptize you," they cried, "that you may be happy in +Heaven; for nobody can be saved without a good baptism." Brébeuf would +not flinch; and, in a rage, they cut strips of flesh from his limbs, +and devoured them before his eyes. Other renegade Hurons called out to +him, "You told us, that, the more one suffers on earth, the happier he is +in Heaven. We wish to make you happy; we torment you because we love +you; and you ought to thank us for it." After a succession of other +revolting tortures, they scalped him; when, seeing him nearly dead, +they laid open his breast, and came in a crowd to drink the blood of so +valiant an enemy, thinking to imbibe with it some portion of his courage. +A chief then tore out his heart, and devoured it.</p> + +<p id="id01267"> +Thus died Jean de Brébeuf, the founder of the Huron mission, its truest +hero, and its greatest martyr. He came of a noble race,—the same, +it is said, from which sprang the English Earls of Arundel; but never had +the mailed barons of his line +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">390</a></span> +confronted a fate so appalling, with so +prodigious a constancy. To the last he refused to flinch, and "his death +was the astonishment of his murderers." +<a href="#footer_28-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +In him an enthusiastic devotion was grafted +on an heroic nature. His bodily endowments were as remarkable as the +temper of his mind. His manly proportions, his strength, and his +endurance, which incessant fasts and penances could not undermine, +had always won for him the respect of the Indians, no less than a courage +unconscious of fear, and yet redeemed from rashness by a cool and +vigorous judgment; for, extravagant as were the chimeras which fed the +fires of his zeal, they were consistent with the soberest good sense on +matters of practical bearing.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_28-2" name="footer_28-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Charlevoix, I. 294. Alegambe uses a similar expression. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01268"> +Lalemant, physically weak from childhood, and slender almost to +emaciation, was constitutionally unequal to a display of fortitude like +that of his colleague. When Brébeuf died, he was led back to the house +whence he had been taken, and tortured there all night, until, in the +morning, one of the Iroquois, growing tired of the protracted +entertainment, killed him with a hatchet. +<a href="#footer_28-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +It was said, that, +at times, he seemed beside himself; then, rallying, with hands uplifted, +he offered his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">391</a></span> +sufferings to Heaven as a sacrifice. His robust companion +had lived less than four hours under the torture, while he survived it +for nearly seventeen. Perhaps the Titanic effort of will with which +Brébeuf repressed all show of suffering conspired with the Iroquois +knives and firebrands to exhaust his vitality; perhaps his tormentors, +enraged at his fortitude, forgot their subtlety, and struck too near the +life.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01269" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_28-3" name="footer_28-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + "We saw no part of his body," says Ragueneau, "from head to foot, + which was not burned, even to his eyes, in the sockets of which these + wretches had placed live coals."—<i>Relation des Hurons, 1649</i>, + 15.</p> + <p id="id01270"> + Lalemant was a Parisian, and his family belonged to the class of + <i>gens de robe</i>, or hereditary practitioners of the law. He was + thirty-nine years of age. His physical weakness is spoken of by + several of those who knew him. Marie de l'Incarnation says, + "C'était l'homme le plus faible et le plus délicat + qu'on eût pu voir." Both Bressani and Ragueneau are equally + emphatic on this point.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01271"> +The bodies of the two missionaries were carried to Sainte Marie, and +buried in the cemetery there; but the skull of Brébeuf was +preserved as a relic. His family sent from France a silver bust of +their martyred kinsman, in the base of which was a recess to contain +the skull; and, to this day, the bust and the relic within are +preserved with pious care by the nuns of the Hôtel-Dieu at Quebec. +<a href="#footer_28-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01272" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_28-4" name="footer_28-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Photographs of the bust are before me. Various relics of the two + missionaries were preserved; and some of them may still be seen in + Canadian monastic establishments. The following extract from a letter + of Marie de l'Incarnation to her son, written from Quebec in October + of this year, 1649, is curious.</p> + <p id="id01273"> + "Madame our foundress (<i>Madame de la Peltrie</i>) sends you relics + of our holy martyrs; but she does it secretly, since the reverend + Fathers would not give us any, for fear that we should send them to + France: but, as she is not bound by vows, and as the very persons who + went for the bodies have given relics of them to her in secret, I + begged her to send you some of them, which she has done very gladly, + from the respect she has for you." She adds, in the same letter, + "Our Lord having revealed to him (<i>Brébeuf</i>) the time of + his martyrdom three days before it happened, he went, full of + joy, to find the other Fathers; who, seeing him in extraordinary + spirits, caused him, by an inspiration of God, to be bled; after + which time surgeon dried his blood, through a presentiment of what + was to take place, lest he should be treated like Father Daniel, who, + eight months before, had been so reduced to ashes that no remains of + his body could be found."</p> + <p id="id01274"> + Brébeuf had once been ordered by the Father Superior to write + down the visions, revelations, and inward experiences with which he + was + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">392</a></span> + favored,—"at least," says Ragueneau, "those which he could + easily remember, for their multitude was too great for the whole to + be recalled."—"I find nothing," he adds, "more frequent in this + memoir than the expression of his desire to die for Jesus Christ: + '<i>Sentio me vehementer impelli ad moriendum pro + Christo</i>.'… In fine, wishing to make himself a holocaust + and a victim consecrated to death, and holily to anticipate the + happiness of martyrdom which awaited him, he bound himself by a + vow to Christ, which he conceived in these terms"; and Ragueneau + gives the vow in the original Latin. It binds him never to refuse + "the grace of martyrdom, if, at any day, Thou shouldst, in Thy + infinite pity, offer it to me, Thy unworthy servant;" … + "and when I shall have received the stroke of death, I bind myself + to accept it at Thy hand, with all the contentment and joy of my + heart."</p> + <p id="id01275"> + Some of his innumerable visions have been already mentioned. + (See <i>ante</i>, <a href="#Page_108">(page 108)</a>.) + Tanner, <i>Societas Militans</i>, gives various others,—as, + for example, that he once beheld a mountain covered thick with saints, + but above all with virgins, while the Queen of Virgins sat at + the top in a blaze of glory. In 1637, when the whole country + was enraged against the Jesuits, and above all against + Brébeuf, as sorcerers who had caused the pest, + Ragueneau tells us that "a troop of demons appeared before him + divers times,—sometimes like men in a fury, sometimes like + frightful monsters, bears, lions, or wild horses, trying to + rush upon him. These spectres excited in him neither horror + nor fear. He said to them, 'Do to me whatever God permits you; + for without His will not one hair will fall from my head.' And + at these words all the demons vanished in a + moment."—<i>Relation des Hurons, 1649</i>, 20. Compare + the long notice in Alegambe, <i>Mortes Illustres</i>, 644.</p> + <p id="id01276"> + In Ragueneau's notice of Brébeuf, as in all other notices + of deceased missionaries in the <i>Relations</i>, the saintly + qualities alone are brought forward, as obedience, humility, + etc.; but wherever Brébeuf himself appears in the course + of those voluminous records, he always brings with him an + impression of power.</p> + <p id="id01277"> + We are told that, punning on his own name, he used to say that he + was an ox, fit only to bear burdens. This sort of humility may + pass for what it is worth; but it must be remembered, that there + is a kind of acting in which the actor firmly believes in the part + he is playing. As for the obedience, it was as genuine as that of + a well-disciplined soldier, and incomparably more profound. In + the case of the Canadian Jesuits, posterity owes to this, their + favorite virtue, the record of numerous visions, inward voices, + and the like miracles, which the object of these favors set down + on paper, at the command of his Superior; while, otherwise, + humility would have concealed them forever. The truth is, + that, with some of these missionaries, one may throw off trash and + nonsense by the cart-load, and find under it all a solid nucleus + of saint and hero.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_29" id="Chapter_29"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">393</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01279"><a href="#Contents29">CHAPTER XXIX.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1649, 1650.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01280" class="smcapheader">THE SANCTUARY.</p> + <p id="id01281" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Dispersion of the Hurons • Sainte Marie abandoned • + Isle St. Joseph • Removal of the Mission • + The New Fort • Misery of the Hurons • + Famine • Epidemic • Employments of the Jesuits + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01282"> +<span class="smcap">All</span> was over with the Hurons. The +death-knell of their nation had struck. Without a leader, +without organization, without union, crazed with fright and +paralyzed with misery, they yielded to their doom without a blow. +Their only thought was flight. Within two weeks after the +disasters of St. Ignace and St. Louis, fifteen Huron towns were abandoned, +and the greater number burned, lest they should give shelter to the +Iroquois. The last year's harvest had been scanty; the fugitives had no +food, and they left behind them the fields in which was their only hope +of obtaining it. In bands, large or small, some roamed northward and +eastward, through the half-thawed wilderness; some hid themselves on the +rocks or islands of Lake Huron; some sought an asylum among the Tobacco +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">394</a></span> +Nation; a few joined the Neutrals on the north of Lake Erie. The Hurons, +as a nation, ceased to exist. +<a href="#footer_29-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01283" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_29-1" name="footer_29-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Chaumonot, who was at Ossossané at the time of the Iroquois + invasion, gives a vivid picture of the panic and lamentation which + followed the news of the destruction of the Huron warriors at St. + Louis, and of the flight of the inhabitants to the country of the + Tobacco Nation.—<i>Vie</i>, 62.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01284"> +Hitherto Sainte Marie had been covered by large fortified towns which lay +between it and the Iroquois; but these were all destroyed, some by the +enemy and some by their own people, and the Jesuits were left alone to +bear the brunt of the next attack. There was, moreover, no reason for +their remaining. Sainte Marie had been built as a basis for the +missions; but its occupation was gone: the flock had fled from the +shepherds, and its existence had no longer an object. If the priests +stayed to be butchered, they would perish, not as martyrs, but as fools. +The necessity was as clear as it was bitter. All their toil must come to +nought. Sainte Marie must be abandoned. They confess the pang which the +resolution cost them; but, pursues the Father Superior, "since the birth +of Christianity, the Faith has nowhere been planted except in the midst +of sufferings and crosses. Thus this desolation consoles us; and in the +midst of persecution, in the extremity of the evils which assail us and +the greater evils which threaten us, we are all filled with joy: for our +hearts tell us that God has never had a more tender love for us than now." +<a href="#footer_29-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_29-2" name="footer_29-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1649</i>, 26.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01285"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">395</a></span> +Several of the priests set out to follow and console the scattered bands +of fugitive Hurons. One embarked in a canoe, and coasted the dreary +shores of Lake Huron northward, among the wild labyrinth of rocks and +islets, whither his scared flock had fled for refuge; another betook +himself to the forest with a band of half-famished proselytes, and shared +their miserable rovings through the thickets and among the mountains. +Those who remained took counsel together at Sainte Marie. Whither should +they go, and where should be the new seat of the mission? They made +choice of the Grand Manitoulin Island, called by them Isle Sainte Marie, +and by the Hurons Ekaentoton. It lay near the northern shores of Lake +Huron, and by its position would give a ready access to numberless +Algonquin tribes along the borders of all these inland seas. Moreover, +it would bring the priests and their flock nearer to the French +settlements, by the route of the Ottawa, whenever the Iroquois should +cease to infest that river. The fishing, too, was good; and some of the +priests, who knew the island well, made a favorable report of the soil. +Thither, therefore, they had resolved to transplant the mission, when +twelve Huron chiefs arrived, and asked for an interview with the Father +Superior and his fellow Jesuits. The conference lasted three hours. +The deputies declared that many of the scattered Hurons had determined to +reunite, and form a settlement on a neighboring island of the lake, +called by the Jesuits Isle St. Joseph; that they needed the aid of the +Fathers; that without +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">396</a></span> +them they were helpless, but with them they could +hold their ground and repel the attacks of the Iroquois. They urged +their plea in language which Ragueneau describes as pathetic and +eloquent; and, to confirm their words, they gave him ten large collars of +wampum, saying that these were the voices of their wives and children. +They gained their point. The Jesuits abandoned their former plan, +and promised to join the Hurons on Isle St. Joseph.</p> + +<p id="id01286"> +They had built a boat, or small vessel, and in this they embarked such of +their stores as it would hold. The greater part were placed on a large +raft made for the purpose, like one of the rafts of timber which every +summer float down the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa. Here was their stock +of corn,—in part the produce of their own fields, and in part bought +from the Hurons in former years of plenty,—pictures, vestments, sacred +vessels and images, weapons, ammunition, tools, goods for barter with the +Indians, cattle, swine, and poultry. +<a href="#footer_29-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +Sainte Marie was stripped of everything that could be moved. +Then, lest it should harbor the Iroquois, they set it on fire, and saw +consumed in an hour the results of nine or ten years of toil. It was +near sunset, on the fourteenth of June. +<a href="#footer_29-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">397</a></span> +houseless band +descended to the mouth of the Wye, went on board their raft, pushed it +from the shore, and, with sweeps and oars, urged it on its way all night. +The lake was calm and the weather fair; but it crept so slowly over the +water that several days elapsed before they reached their destination, +about twenty miles distant.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01287" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_29-3" name="footer_29-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + Some of these were killed for food after reaching the + island. In March following, they had ten fowls, a pair + of swine, two bulls and two cows, kept for + breeding.—<i>Lettre de Ragueneau au + Général de la Compagnie de Jésus, + St. Joseph, 13 Mars, 1650</i>. <br /> + <a id="footer_29-4" name="footer_29-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 3. In the + <i>Relation</i> of the preceding year he gives the fifteenth + of May as the date,—evidently an error.</p> + <p id="id01288"> + "Nous sortismes de ces terres de Promission qui estoient nostre Paradis, + et où la mort nous eust esté mille fois plus douce que + ne sera la vie en quelque lieu que nous puissions estre. Mais il faut + suiure Dieu, et il faut aimer ses conduites, quelque opposées + qu'elles paroissent à nos desirs, à nos plus saintes + esperances et aux plus tendres amours de nostre + <ins title="Add end-quote after coeur">cœur."—<i>Lettre + de Ragueneau au P. Provincial à + Paris</i>,</ins> in <i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 1.</p> + <p id="id01289"> + "Mais il fallut, à tous tant que nous estions, quitter + cette ancienne demeure de saincte Marie; ces edifices, qui quoy + que pauures, paroissoient des chefs-d'œuure de l'art aux yeux de + nos pauures Sauuages; ces terres cultiuées, qui nous + promettoient vne riche moisson. Il nous fallut abandonner ce + lieu, que ie puis appeller nostre seconde Patrie et nos delices + innocentes, puis qu'il auoit esté le berceau de ce + Christianisme, qu'il estoit le temple de Dieu et la maison des + seruiteurs de Iesus-Christ; et crainte que nos ennemis trop impies, + ne profanassent ce lieu de saincteté et n'en prissent leur + auantage, nous y mismes le feu nous mesmes, et nous vismes brusler + à nos yeux, en moins d'vne heure, nos trauaux de neuf et de + dix ans."—Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 2, 3. + <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01290"> +Near the entrance of Matchedash Bay lie the three islands now known as +Faith, Hope, and Charity. Of these, Charity or Christian Island, called +Ahoendoé by the Hurons and St. Joseph by the Jesuits, is by far the +largest. It is six or eight miles wide; and when the Hurons sought +refuge here, it was densely covered with the primeval forest. The +priests landed with their men, some forty soldiers, laborers, and others, +and found about three hundred Huron families bivouacked in the woods. +Here were wigwams and sheds of bark, and smoky kettles slung over fires, +each +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">398</a></span> +on its tripod of poles, while around lay groups of famished wretches, +with dark, haggard visages and uncombed hair, in every posture of +despondency and woe. They had not been wholly idle; for they had made +some rough clearings, and planted a little corn. The arrival of the +Jesuits gave them new hope; and, weakened as they were with famine, +they set themselves to the task of hewing and burning down the forest, +making bark houses, and planting palisades. The priests, on their part, +chose a favorable spot, and began to clear the ground and mark out the +lines of a fort. Their men—the greater part serving without +pay—labored with admirable spirit, and before winter had built a square, +bastioned fort of solid masonry, with a deep ditch, and walls about +twelve feet high. Within were a small chapel, houses for lodging, +and a well, which, with the ruins of the walls, may still be seen on the +south-eastern shore of the island, a hundred feet from the water. +<a href="#footer_29-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +Detached redoubts were also built near at hand, where French musketeers +could aid in defending the adjacent Huron village. +<a href="#footer_29-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +Though the island was +called St. Joseph, the fort, like that on the Wye, received the name of +Sainte Marie. Jesuit +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">399</a></span> +devotion scattered these names broadcast over all +the field of their labors.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01291" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_29-5" name="footer_29-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + The measurement between the angles of the two southern bastions is + 123 feet, and that of the curtain wall connecting these bastions is 78 + feet. Some curious relics have been found in the fort,—among others, + a steel mill for making wafers for the Host. It was found in 1848, + in a remarkable state of preservation, and is now in an English museum, + having been bought on the spot by an amateur. As at Sainte Marie on the + Wye, the remains are in perfect conformity with the narratives and + letters of the priests. <br /> + <a id="footer_29-6" name="footer_29-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + Compare Martin, Introduction to Bressani, + <i>Relation Abrégée</i>, 38. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01292"> +The island, thanks to the vigilance of the French, escaped attack +throughout the summer; but Iroquois scalping-parties ranged the +neighboring shores, killing stragglers and keeping the Hurons in +perpetual alarm. As winter drew near, great numbers, who, trembling and +by stealth, had gathered a miserable subsistence among the northern +forests and islands, rejoined their countrymen at St. Joseph, until six +or eight thousand expatriated wretches were gathered here under the +protection of the French fort. They were housed in a hundred or more +bark dwellings, each containing eight or ten families. +<a href="#footer_29-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +Here were widows without children, and children without parents; for +famine and the Iroquois had proved more deadly enemies than the +pestilence which a few years before had wasted their towns. +<a href="#footer_29-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +Of this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">400</a></span> +multitude but few had strength enough to labor, scarcely any had +made provision for the winter, and numbers were already perishing from +want, dragging themselves from house to house, like living skeletons. +The priests had spared no effort to meet the demands upon their charity. +They sent men during the autumn to buy smoked fish from the Northern +Algonquins, and employed Indians to gather acorns in the woods. Of this +miserable food they succeeded in collecting five or six hundred bushels. +To diminish its bitterness, the Indians boiled it with ashes, or the +priests served it out to them pounded, and mixed with corn. +<a href="#footer_29-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01293" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_29-7" name="footer_29-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 3, 4. + He reckons eight persons to a family. <br /> + <a id="footer_29-8" name="footer_29-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + "Ie voudrois pouuoir representer à toutes les personnes + affectionnées à nos Hurons, l'état pitoyable + auquel ils sont reduits; … comment seroit-il possible que + ces imitateurs de Iésus Christ ne fussent émeus + à pitié à la veuë des centaines et + centaines de veuues dont non seulement les enfans, mais quasi + les parens ont esté outrageusement ou tuez, ou emmenez + captifs, et puis inhumainement bruslez, cuits, déchirez + et deuorez des ennemis."—<i>Lettre de Chaumonot à + Lalemant, Supérieur à Quebec, Isle de St. Joseph, + 1 Juin, 1649</i>.</p> + <p id="id01294"> + "Vne mère s'est veuë, n'ayant que ses deux mamelles, + mais sans suc et sans laict, qui toutefois estoit l'vnique chose + qu'elle eust peu presenter à trois ou quatre enfans qui + pleuroient y estans attachez. Elle les voyoit mourir entre ses + bras, les vns apres les autres, et n'auoit pas mesme les forces + de les pousser dans le tombeau. Elle mouroit sous cette charge, + et en mourant elle disoit: Ouy, Mon Dieu, vous estes le maistre + de nos vies; nous mourrons puisque vous le voulez; voila qui est + bien que nous mourrions Chrestiens. I'estois damnée, + et mes enfans auec moy, si nous ne fussions morts miserables; ils ont + receu le sainct Baptesme, et ie croy fermement que mourans tous de + compagnie, nous ressusciterons tous ensemble."—Ragueneau, + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 5.<br /> + <a id="footer_29-9" name="footer_29-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + Eight hundred sacks of this mixture were given to the Hurons during the + winter.—Bressani, <i>Relation Abrégée</i>, 283. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01295">As winter advanced, the Huron houses became a frightful spectacle. +Their inmates were dying by scores daily. The priests and their men +buried the bodies, and the Indians dug them from the earth or the snow +and fed on them, sometimes in secret and sometimes openly; although, +notwithstanding their superstitious feasts on the bodies of their enemies, +their repugnance and horror were extreme at the thought of devouring +those of relatives and friends. +<a href="#footer_29-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +An epidemic presently appeared, +to aid +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">401</a></span> +the work of famine. Before spring, about half of their number +were dead.</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01296" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_29-10" name="footer_29-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + "Ce fut alors que nous fusmes contraints de voir des squeletes + mourantes, qui soustenoient vne vie miserable, mangeant iusqu'aux + ordures et les rebuts de la nature. Le gland estoit à la + pluspart, ce que seroient en France les mets les plus exquis. + Les charognes mesme deterrées, les restes des Renards et + des Chiens ne faisoient point horreur, et se mangeoient, quoy + qu'en cachete: car quoy que les Hurons, auant que la foy leur + eust donné plus de lumiere qu'ils n'en auoient dans + l'infidelité, ne creussent pas commettre aucun peché + de manger leurs ennemis, aussi peu qu'il y en a de les tuer, + toutefois ie puis dire auec verité, qu'ils n'ont pas + moins d'horreur de manger de leurs compatriotes, qu'on peut auoir + en France de manger de la chair humaine. Mais la necessité + n'a plus de loy, et des dents fameliques ne discernent plus ce + qu'elles mangent. Les mères se sont repeuës de leurs + enfans, des freres de leurs freres, et des enfans ne + reconnoissoient plus en vn cadaure mort, celuy lequel lors qu'il + viuoit, ils appelloient leur Pere."—Ragueneau, + <i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 4. Compare Bressani, + <i>Relation Abrégée</i>, 283.<br /> + </p> +</div> +<p id="id01297"> +Meanwhile, though the cold was intense and the snow several feet deep, +yet not an hour was free from the danger of the Iroquois; and, from +sunset to daybreak, under the cold moon or in the driving snow-storm, +the French sentries walked their rounds along the ramparts.</p> + +<p id="id01298"> +The priests rose before dawn, and spent the time till sunrise in their +private devotions. Then the bell of their chapel rang, and the Indians +came in crowds at the call; for misery had softened their hearts, and +nearly all on the island were now Christian. There was a mass, followed +by a prayer and a few words of exhortation; then the hearers dispersed to +make room for others. Thus the little chapel was filled ten or twelve +times, until all had had their turn. Meanwhile other priests were +hearing confessions and giving advice and encouragement in private, +according to the needs of each applicant. This lasted till nine o'clock, +when all the Indians returned to their village, and the priests presently +followed, to give what assistance they could. Their cassocks were worn +out, and they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">402</a></span> +were dressed chiefly in skins. +<a href="#footer_29-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +They visited the Indian houses, and gave to those whose necessities were +most urgent small scraps of hide, severally stamped with a particular +mark, and entitling the recipients, on presenting them at the fort, +to a few acorns, a small quantity of boiled maize, or a fragment of +smoked fish, according to the stamp on the leather ticket of each. +Two hours before sunset the bell of the chapel again rang, and the +religious exercises of the morning were repeated. +<a href="#footer_29-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_29-11" name="footer_29-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + <i>Lettre de Ragueneau au Général de la + Compagnie de Jésus, Isle St. Joseph, 13 Mars, + 1650</i>.<br /> + <a id="footer_29-12" name="footer_29-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 6, 7. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01299"> +Thus this miserable winter wore away, till the opening spring brought new +fears and new necessities. +<a href="#footer_29-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01300" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_29-13" name="footer_29-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + Concerning the retreat of the Hurons to Isle St. Joseph, the principal + authorities are the <i>Relations</i> of 1649 and 1650, which are ample + in detail, and written with an excellent simplicity and modesty; the + <i>Relation Abrégée</i> of Bressani; the reports of the + Father Superior to the General of the Jesuits at Rome; the + manuscript of 1652, entitled <i>Mémoires touchant la Mort et + les Vertus des Pères, etc.</i>; the unpublished letters of + Garnier; and a letter of Chaumonot, written on the spot, and preserved + in the <i>Relations</i>.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_30" id="Chapter_30"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">403</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01301"><a href="#Contents30">CHAPTER XXX.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1649.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01302" class="smcapheader">GARNIER—CHABANEL.</p> + <p id="id01303" class="noindent space-bottom"> + The Tobacco Missions • St. Jean attacked • + Death of Garnier • The Journey of Chabanel • + His Death • Garreau and Grelon. + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01305"> +<span class="smcap">Late</span> in the preceding autumn the +Iroquois had taken the war-path in force. At the end of November, +two escaped prisoners came to Isle St. Joseph with the news that +a band of three hundred warriors was hovering in the Huron forests, +doubtful whether to invade the island or to attack the towns of the +Tobacco Nation in the valleys of the Blue Mountains. The Father +Superior, Ragueneau, sent a runner thither in all haste, to warn +the inhabitants of their danger.</p> + +<p id="id01306"> +There were at this time two missions in the Tobacco Nation, St. Jean and +St. Matthias, +<a href="#footer_30-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a>—the +latter under the charge of the Jesuits Garreau +and Grelon, and the former under that of Garnier and Chabanel. St. Jean, +the principal seat of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">404</a></span> +mission of the same name, was a town of five or +six hundred families. Its population was, moreover, greatly augmented by +the bands of fugitive Hurons who had taken refuge there. When the +warriors were warned by Ragueneau's messenger of a probable attack from +the Iroquois, they were far from being daunted, but, confiding in their +numbers, awaited the enemy in one of those fits of valor which +characterize the unstable courage of the savage. At St. Jean all was +paint, feathers, and uproar,—singing, dancing, howling, and stamping. +Quivers were filled, knives whetted, and tomahawks sharpened; but when, +after two days of eager expectancy, the enemy did not appear, the +warriors lost patience. Thinking, and probably with reason, that the +Iroquois were afraid of them, they resolved to sally forth, and take the +offensive. With yelps and whoops they defiled into the forest, where the +branches were gray and bare, and the ground thickly covered with snow. +They pushed on rapidly till the following day, but could not discover +their wary enemy, who had made a wide circuit, and was approaching the +town from another quarter. By ill luck, the Iroquois captured a Tobacco +Indian and his squaw, straggling in the forest not far from St. Jean; and +the two prisoners, to propitiate them, told them the defenceless +condition of the place, where none remained but women, children, and old +men. The delighted Iroquois no longer hesitated, but silently and +swiftly pushed on towards the town.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01307" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_30-1" name="footer_30-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + The Indian name of St. Jean was Etarita; and that of St. Matthias, + Ekarenniondi.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01308">It was two o'clock in the afternoon of the seventh +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">405</a></span> +of December. +<a href="#footer_30-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +Chabanel had left the place a day +or two before, in obedience to a message from Ragueneau, and Garnier was +here alone. He was making his rounds among the houses, visiting the sick +and instructing his converts, when the horrible din of the war-whoop rose +from the borders of the clearing, and, on the instant, the town was mad +with terror. Children and girls rushed to and fro, blind with fright; +women snatched their infants, and fled they knew not whither. Garnier +ran to his chapel, where a few of his converts had sought asylum. +He gave them his benediction, exhorted them to hold fast to the Faith, +and bade them fly while there was yet time. For himself, he hastened +back to the houses, running from one to another, and giving absolution or +baptism to all whom he found. An Iroquois met him, shot him with three +balls through the body and thigh, tore off his cassock, and rushed on in +pursuit of the fugitives. Garnier lay for a moment on the ground, +as if stunned; then, recovering his senses, he was seen to rise into a +kneeling posture. At a little distance from him lay a Huron, mortally +wounded, but still showing signs of life. With the Heaven that awaited +him glowing before his fading vision, the priest dragged himself towards +the dying Indian, to give him absolution; but his strength failed, +and he fell again to the earth. He rose once more, and again crept +forward, when a party of Iroquois rushed upon him, split his head with +two blows of a hatchet, stripped him, and left his body +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">406</a></span> +on the ground. +<a href="#footer_30-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +At this time the whole town was on fire. The invaders, fearing +that the absent warriors might return and take their revenge, hastened to +finish their work, scattered firebrands everywhere, and threw children +alive into the burning houses. They killed many of the fugitives, +captured many more, and then made a hasty retreat through the forest with +their prisoners, butchering such of them as lagged on the way. St. Jean +lay a waste of smoking ruins thickly strewn with blackened corpses of the +slain.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01309" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_30-2" name="footer_30-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Bressani, <i>Relation Abrégée</i>, 264.<br /> + <a id="footer_30-3" name="footer_30-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + The above particulars of Garnier's death rest on the evidence of a + Christian Huron woman, named Marthe, who saw him shot down, and also saw + his attempt to reach the dying Indian. She was herself struck down + immediately after with a war-club, but remained alive, and escaped in + the confusion. She died three months later, at Isle St. Joseph, from + the effects of the injuries she had received, after reaffirming the + truth of her story to Ragueneau, who was with her, and who questioned + her on the subject. (<i>Mémoires touchant la Mort et les Vertus + des Pères Garnier, etc.</i>, MS.). Ragueneau also speaks of her + in <i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 9.—The priests Grelon and + Garreau found the body stripped naked, with three gunshot wounds in + the abdomen and thigh, and two deep hatchet wounds in the head.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01310"> +Towards evening, parties of fugitives reached St. Matthias, with tidings +of the catastrophe. The town was wild with alarm, and all stood on the +watch, in expectation of an attack; but when, in the morning, scouts came +in and reported the retreat of the Iroquois, Garreau and Grelon set out +with a party of converts to visit the scene of havoc. For a long time +they looked in vain for the body of Garnier; but at length they found him +lying where he had fallen,—so scorched and disfigured, that he was +recognized with difficulty. The two priests wrapped his body in a part +of their own +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">407</a></span> +clothing; the Indian converts dug a grave on the spot where +his church had stood; and here they buried him. Thus, at the age of +forty-four, died Charles Garnier, the favorite child of wealthy and noble +parents, nursed in Parisian luxury and ease, then living and dying, +a more than willing exile, amid the hardships and horrors of the Huron +wilderness. His life and his death are his best eulogy. Brébeuf was the +lion of the Huron mission, and Garnier was the lamb; but the lamb was as +fearless as the lion. +<a href="#footer_30-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01311" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_30-4" name="footer_30-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Garnier's devotion to the mission was absolute. He took little or no + interest in the news from France, which, at intervals of from one to + three years, found its way to the Huron towns. His companion Bressani + says, that he would walk thirty or forty miles in the hottest summer day, + to baptize some dying Indian, when the country was infested by the enemy. + On similar errands, he would sometimes pass the night alone in the forest + in the depth of winter. He was anxious to fall into the hands of the + Iroquois, that he might preach the Faith to them even out of the midst of + the fire. In one of his unpublished letters he writes, "Praised be our + Lord, who punishes me for my sins by depriving me of this crown" (the + crown of martyrdom). After the death of Brébeuf and Lalemant, he writes + to his brother:—</p> + <p id="id01312"> + "Hélas! Mon cher frère, si ma conscience ne me + convainquait et ne me confondait de mon infidélité + au service de notre bon mâitre, je pourrais espérer + quelque faveur approchante de celles qu'il a faites aux bienheureux + martyrs avec qui j'avais le bien de converser souvent, étant + dans les mêmes occasions et dangers qu'ils étaient, + mais sa justice me fait craindre que je ne demeure toujours indigne + d'une telle couronne."</p> + <p id="id01313"> + He contented himself with the most wretched fare during the last years + of famine, living in good measure on roots and acorns; "although," says + Ragueneau, "he had been the cherished son of a rich and noble house, + on whom all the affection of his father had centred, and who had been + nourished on food very different from that of swine."—<i>Relation + des Hurons, 1650</i>, 12.</p> + <p id="id01314"> + For his character, see Ragueneau, Bressani, Tanner, and Alegambe, who + devotes many pages to the description of his religious traits; but the + complexion of his mind is best reflected in his private letters. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01315"> +When, on the following morning, the warriors of St. Jean returned from +their rash and bootless +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">408</a></span> +sally, and saw the ashes of their desolated homes +and the ghastly relics of their murdered families, they seated themselves +amid the ruin, silent and motionless as statues of bronze, with heads +bowed down and eyes fixed on the ground. Thus they remained through half +the day. Tears and wailing were for women; this was the mourning of +warriors.</p> + +<p id="id01316"> +Garnier's colleague, Chabanel, had been recalled from St. Jean by an +order from the Father Superior, who thought it needless to expose the +life of more than one priest in a position of so much danger. He stopped +on his way at St. Matthias, and on the morning of the seventh of December, +the day of the attack, left that town with seven or eight Christian +Hurons. The journey was rough and difficult. They proceeded through the +forest about eighteen miles, and then encamped in the snow. The Indians +fell asleep; but Chabanel, from an apprehension of danger, or some other +cause, remained awake. About midnight he heard a strange sound in the +distance,—a confusion of fierce voices, mingled with songs and outcries. +It was the Iroquois on their retreat with their prisoners, some of whom +were defiantly singing their war-songs, after the Indian custom. +Chabanel waked his companions, who instantly took flight. He tried to +follow, but could not keep pace with the light-footed savages, who +returned to St. Matthias, and told what had occurred. They said, however, +that Chabanel had left them and taken an opposite direction, in order to +reach Isle St. Joseph. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">409</a></span> +His brother priests were for some time ignorant +of what had befallen him. At length a Huron Indian, who had been +converted, but afterward apostatized, gave out that he had met him in the +forest, and aided him with his canoe to cross a river which lay in his +path. Some supposed that he had lost his way, and died of cold and +hunger; but others were of a different opinion. Their suspicion was +confirmed some time afterwards by the renegade Huron, who confessed that +he had killed Chabanel and thrown his body into the river, after robbing +him of his clothes, his hat, the blanket or mantle which was strapped to +his shoulders, and the bag in which he carried his books and papers. +He declared that his motive was hatred of the Faith, which had caused the +ruin of the Hurons. +<a href="#footer_30-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +The priest had prepared himself for a worse fate. Before +leaving Sainte Marie on the Wye, to go to his post in the Tobacco Nation, +he had written to his brother to regard him as a victim destined to the +fires of the Iroquois. +<a href="#footer_30-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +He added, that, though he was naturally timid, he was now wholly +indifferent to danger; and he expressed the belief that only a superhuman +power could have wrought such a change in him. +<a href="#footer_30-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01317" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_30-5" name="footer_30-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + <i>Mémoires touchant la Mort et les Vertus des Pères, + etc.</i>, MS.<br /> + <a id="footer_30-6" name="footer_30-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + <i>Abrégé de la Vie du P. Noël Chabanel</i>. MS. + <br /> + <a id="footer_30-7" name="footer_30-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + "Ie suis fort apprehensif de mon naturel; toutefois, maintenant que ie + vay au plus grand danger et qu'il me semble que la mort n'est pas + esloignée, ie ne sens plus de crainte. Cette disposition ne + vient pas de moy."—<i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 18.</p> + <p id="id01318"> + The following is the vow made by Chabanel, at a time when his disgust at + the Indian mode of life beset him with temptations to ask to be recalled + from the mission. It is translated from the Latin original:—</p> + <p id="id01319"> + "My Lord Jesus Christ, who, in the admirable disposition of thy paternal + providence, hast willed that I, although most unworthy, should be a + co-laborer with the holy Apostles in this vineyard of the Hurons,—I, + Noël Chabanel, impelled by the desire of fulfilling thy holy will in + advancing the conversion of the savages of this land to thy faith, do vow, + in the presence of the most holy sacrament of thy precious body and blood, + which is God's tabernacle among men, to remain perpetually attached to + this mission of the Hurons, understanding all things according to the + interpretation and disposal of the Superiors of the Society of Jesus. + Therefore I entreat thee to receive me as the perpetual servant of this + mission, and to render me worthy of so sublime a ministry. Amen. + This twentieth day of June, 1647." </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01320"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">410</a></span> +Garreau and Grelon, in their mission of St. Matthias, were exposed to +other dangers than those of the Iroquois. A report was spread, not only +that they were magicians, but that they had a secret understanding with +the enemy. A nocturnal council was called, and their death was decreed. +In the morning, a furious crowd gathered before a lodge which they were +about to enter, screeching and yelling after the manner of Indians when +they compel a prisoner to run the gantlet. The two priests, giving no +sign of fear, passed through the crowd and entered the lodge unharmed. +Hatchets were brandished over them, but no one would be the first to +strike. Their converts were amazed at their escape, and they themselves +ascribed it to the interposition of a protecting Providence. The Huron +missionaries were doubly in danger,—not more from the Iroquois than from +the blind rage of those who should have been their friends. +<a href="#footer_30-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01333" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_30-8" name="footer_30-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 20.</p> + <p id="id01322"> + One of these two missionaries, Garreau, was afterwards killed by the + Iroquois, who shot him through the spine, in 1656, near Montreal.—De + Quen, <i>Relation, 1656</i>, 41. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_31" id="Chapter_31"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">411</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01323"><a href="#Contents31">CHAPTER XXXI.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1650-1652.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01324" class="smcapheader">THE HURON MISSION ABANDONED.</p> + <p id="id01325" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Famine and the Tomahawk • A New Asylum • + Voyage of the Refugees to Quebec • + Meeting with Bressani • + Desperate Courage of the Iroquois • + Inroads and Battles • Death of Buteux + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01327"> +<span class="smcap">As</span> spring approached, the starving +multitude on Isle St. Joseph grew reckless with hunger. Along +the main shore, in spots where the sun lay warm, the spring +fisheries had already begun, and the melting snow was uncovering +the acorns in the woods. There was danger everywhere, for +bands of Iroquois were again on the track of their prey. +<a href="#footer_31-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +The miserable Hurons, gnawed with inexorable famine, stood in the dilemma of +a deadly peril and an assured death. They chose the former; and, early +in March, began to leave their island and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">412</a></span> + cross to the main-land, to +gather what sustenance they could. The ice was still thick, but the +advancing season had softened it; and, as a body of them were crossing, +it broke under their feet. Some were drowned; while others dragged +themselves out, drenched and pierced with cold, to die miserably on the +frozen lake, before they could reach a shelter. Other parties, more +fortunate, gained the shore safely, and began their fishing, divided into +companies of from eight or ten to a hundred persons. But the Iroquois +were in wait for them. A large band of warriors had already made their +way, through ice and snow, from their towns in Central New York. They +surprised the Huron fishermen, surrounded them, and cut them in pieces +without resistance,—tracking out the various parties of their victims, +and hunting down fugitives with such persistency and skill, that, of all +who had gone over to the main, the Jesuits knew of but one who escaped. +<a href="#footer_31-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a></p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01328" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_31-1" name="footer_31-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + "Mais le Printemps estant venu, les Iroquois nous furent encore plus + cruels; et ce sont eux qui vrayement ont ruiné toutes nos + esperances, et qui ont fait vn lieu d'horreur, vne terre de sang et + de carnage, vn theatre de cruauté et vn sepulchre de + carcasses décharnées par les langueurs d'vne longue + famine, d'vn païs de benediction, d'vne terre de Sainteté + et d'vn lieu qui n'auoit plus rien de barbare, depuis que le sang + respandu pour son amour auoit rendu tout son peuple + Chrestien."—Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, + 1650</i>, 23.<br /> + <a id="footer_31-2" name="footer_31-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + "Le iour de l'Annonciation, vingt-cinquiesme de Mars, vne armée + d'Iroquois ayans marché prez de deux cents lieuës de + païs, à trauers les glaces et les neges, trauersans les + montagnes et les forests pleines d'horreur, surprirent au commencement + de la nuit le camp de nos Chrestiens, et en firent vne cruelle + boucherie. Il sembloit que le Ciel conduisit toutes leurs demarches + et qu'ils eurent vn Ange pour guide: car ils diuiserent leurs troupes + auec tant de bon-heur, qu'ils trouuerent en moins de deux iours, toutes + les bandes de nos Chrestiens qui estoient dispersées ça + et là, esloignées les vnes des autres de six, sept et huit + lieuës, cent personnes en vn lieu, en vn autre cinquante; et mesme + il y auoit quelques familles solitaires, qui s'estoient escartées + en des lieux moins connus et hors de tout chemin. Chose estrange! de + tout ce monde dissipé, vn seul homme s'eschappa, qui vint nous en + apporter les nouuelles."—Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, + 1650</i>, 23, 24. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01330"> +"My pen," writes Ragueneau, "has no ink black +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">413</a></span> +enough to describe the fury +of the Iroquois." Still the goadings of famine were relentless and +irresistible. "It is said," adds the Father Superior, "that hunger will +drive wolves from the forest. So, too, our starving Hurons were driven +out of a town which had become an abode of horror. It was the end of +Lent. Alas, if these poor Christians could have had but acorns and water +to keep their fast upon! On Easter Day we caused them to make a general +confession. On the following morning they went away, leaving us all +their little possessions; and most of them declared publicly that they +made us their heirs, knowing well that they were near their end. And, +in fact, only a few days passed before we heard of the disaster which we +had foreseen. These poor people fell into ambuscades of our Iroquois +enemies. Some were killed on the spot; some were dragged into captivity; +women and children were burned. A few made their escape, and spread +dismay and panic everywhere. A week after, another band was overtaken by +the same fate. Go where they would, they met with slaughter on all +sides. Famine pursued them, or they encountered an enemy more cruel than +cruelty itself; and, to crown their misery, they heard that two great +armies of Iroquois were on the way to exterminate them.… Despair +was universal." +<a href="#footer_31-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_31-3" name="footer_31-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 24. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01331"> +The Jesuits at St. Joseph knew not what course to take. The doom of +their flock seemed inevitable. When dismay and despondency were at +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">414</a></span> +their +height, two of the principal Huron chiefs came to the fort, and asked an +interview with Ragueneau and his companions. They told them that the +Indians had held a council the night before, and resolved to abandon the +island. Some would disperse in the most remote and inaccessible forests; +others would take refuge in a distant spot, apparently the Grand +Manitoulin Island; others would try to reach the Andastes; and others +would seek safety in adoption and incorporation with the Iroquois +themselves.</p> + +<p id="id01332"> +"Take courage, brother," continued one of the chiefs, addressing +Ragueneau. "You can save us, if you will but resolve on a bold step. +Choose a place where you can gather us together, and prevent this +dispersion of our people. Turn your eyes towards Quebec, and transport +thither what is left of this ruined country. Do not wait till war and +famine have destroyed us to the last man. We are in your hands. Death +has taken from you more than ten thousand of us. If you wait longer, +not one will remain alive; and then you will be sorry that you did not +save those whom you might have snatched from danger, and who showed you +the means of doing so. If you do as we wish, we will form a church under +the protection of the fort at Quebec. Our faith will not be +extinguished. The examples of the French and the Algonquins will +encourage us in our duty, and their charity will relieve some of our +misery. At least, we shall sometimes find a morsel of bread for our +children, who so long have had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">415</a></span> +nothing but bitter roots and acorns to +keep them alive." +<a href="#footer_31-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_31-4" name="footer_31-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 25. It appears from the + MS. <i>Journal des Supérieurs des Jésuites</i>, that a + plan of bringing the remnant of the Hurons to Quebec was discussed and + approved by Lalemant and his associates, in a council held by them at + that place in April.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01334"> +The Jesuits were deeply moved. They consulted together again and again, +and prayed in turn during forty hours without ceasing, that their minds +might be enlightened. At length they resolved to grant the petition of +the two chiefs, and save the poor remnant of the Hurons, by leading them +to an asylum where there was at least a hope of safety. Their resolution +once taken, they pushed their preparations with all speed, lest the +Iroquois might learn their purpose, and lie in wait to cut them off. +Canoes were made ready, and on the tenth of June they began the voyage, +with all their French followers and about three hundred Hurons. The +Huron mission was abandoned.</p> + +<p id="id01335"> +"It was not without tears," writes the Father Superior, "that we left the +country of our hopes and our hearts, where our brethren had gloriously +shed their blood." +<a href="#footer_31-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +The fleet of canoes held its melancholy way along the shores where two years +before had been the seat of one of the chief savage communities of the +continent, and where now all was a waste of death and desolation. +Then they steered northward, along the eastern coast of the Georgian Bay, +with its countless rocky islets; and everywhere they saw the traces of +the Iroquois. When they reached Lake Nipissing, they found it +deserted,—nothing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">416</a></span> +remaining of the Algonquins who dwelt on its shore, +except the ashes of their burnt wigwams. A little farther on, there was a fort +built of trees, where the Iroquois who made this desolation had spent the +winter; and a league or two below, there was another similar fort. +The River Ottawa was a solitude. The Algonquins of Allumette Island and +the shores adjacent had all been killed or driven away, never again to +return. "When I came up this great river, only thirteen years ago," +writes Ragueneau, "I found it bordered with Algonquin tribes, who knew no +God, and, in their infidelity, thought themselves gods on earth; for they +had all that they desired, abundance of fish and game, and a prosperous +trade with allied nations: besides, they were the terror of their +enemies. But since they have embraced the Faith and adored the cross of +Christ, He has given them a heavy share in this cross, and made them a +prey to misery, torture, and a cruel death. In a word, they are a people +swept from the face of the earth. Our only consolation is, that, as they +died Christians, they have a part in the inheritance of the true children +of God, who scourgeth every one whom He receiveth." +<a href="#footer_31-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_31-5" name="footer_31-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + Compare Bressani, <i>Relation Abrégée</i>, 288. + <br /> + <a id="footer_31-6" name="footer_31-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1650</i>, 27. These + Algonquins of the Ottawa, though broken and dispersed, + were not destroyed, as Ragueneau supposes.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01336"> +As the voyagers descended the river, they had a serious alarm. Their +scouts came in, and reported that they had found fresh footprints of men +in the forest. These proved, however, to be the tracks, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">417</a></span> +not of enemies, +but of friends. In the preceding autumn Bressani had gone down to the +French settlements with about twenty Hurons, and was now returning with +them, and twice their number of armed Frenchmen, for the defence of the +mission. His scouts had also been alarmed by discovering the footprints +of Ragueneau's Indians; and for some time the two parties stood on their +guard, each taking the other for an enemy. When at length they +discovered their mistake, they met with embraces and rejoicing. Bressani +and his Frenchmen had come too late. All was over with the Hurons and +the Huron mission; and, as it was useless to go farther, they joined +Ragueneau's party, and retraced their course for the settlements.</p> + +<p id="id01337"> +A day or two before, they had had a sharp taste of the mettle of the +enemy. Ten Iroquois warriors had spent the winter in a little fort of +felled trees on the borders of the Ottawa, hunting for subsistence, +and waiting to waylay some passing canoe of Hurons, Algonquins, or +Frenchmen. Bressani's party outnumbered them six to one; but they +resolved that it should not pass without a token of their presence. +Late on a dark night, the French and Hurons lay encamped in the forest, +sleeping about their fires. They had set guards: but these, it seems, +were drowsy or negligent; for the ten Iroquois, watching their time, +approached with the stealth of lynxes, and glided like shadows into the +midst of the camp, where, by the dull glow of the smouldering fires, +they could distinguish the recumbent figures of their victims. Suddenly +they +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">418</a></span> + screeched the war-whoop, and struck like lightning with their +hatchets among the sleepers. Seven were killed before the rest could +spring to their weapons. Bressani leaped up, and received on the instant +three arrow-wounds in the head. The Iroquois were surrounded, and a +desperate fight ensued in the dark. Six of them were killed on the spot, +and two made prisoners; while the remaining two, breaking through the +crowd, bounded out of the camp and escaped in the forest.</p> + +<p id="id01338"> +The united parties soon after reached Montreal; but the Hurons refused to +remain in a spot so exposed to the Iroquois. Accordingly, they all +descended the St. Lawrence, and at length, on the twenty-eighth of July, +reached Quebec. Here the Ursulines, the hospital nuns, and the +inhabitants taxed their resources to the utmost to provide food and +shelter for the exiled Hurons. Their good will exceeded their power; for +food was scarce at Quebec, and the Jesuits themselves had to bear the +chief burden of keeping the sufferers alive. +<a href="#footer_31-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_31-7" name="footer_31-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + Compare Juchereau, <i>Histoire de l'Hôtel-Dieu</i>, + 79, 80.<br /> + +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01339"> +But, if famine was an evil, the Iroquois were a far greater one; for, +while the western nations of their confederacy were engrossed with the +destruction of the Hurons, the Mohawks kept up incessant attacks on the +Algonquins and the French. A party of Christian Indians, chiefly from +Sillery, planned a stroke of retaliation, and set out for the Mohawk +country, marching cautiously and sending forward scouts to scour the +forest. One of these, a Huron, suddenly fell in with a large Iroquois +war-party, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">419</a></span> +and, seeing that he could not escape, formed on the instant a +villanous plan to save himself. He ran towards the enemy, crying out, +that he had long been looking for them and was delighted to see them; +that his nation, the Hurons, had come to an end; and that henceforth his +country was the country of the Iroquois, where so many of his kinsmen and +friends had been adopted. He had come, he declared, with no other +thought than that of joining them, and turning Iroquois, as they had +done. The Iroquois demanded if he had come alone. He answered, "No," +and said, that, in order to accomplish his purpose, he had joined an +Algonquin war-party who were in the woods not far off. The Iroquois, +in great delight, demanded to be shown where they were. This Judas, +as the Jesuits call him, at once complied; and the Algonquins were +surprised by a sudden onset, and routed with severe loss. The +treacherous Huron was well treated by the Iroquois, who adopted him into +their nation. Not long after, he came to Canada, and, with a view, +as it was thought, to some further treachery, rejoined the French. +A sharp cross-questioning put him to confusion, and he presently +confessed his guilt. He was sentenced to death; and the sentence was +executed by one of his own countrymen, who split his head with a hatchet. +<a href="#footer_31-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_31-8" name="footer_31-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation, 1650</i>, 30.<br /> + +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01340"> +In the course of the summer, the French at Three Rivers became aware that +a band of Iroquois was prowling in the neighborhood, and sixty men went +out to meet them. Far from retreating, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">420</a></span> +Iroquois, who were about +twenty-five in number, got out of their canoes, and took post, waist-deep +in mud and water, among the tall rushes at the margin of the river. +Here they fought stubbornly, and kept all the Frenchmen at bay. At +length, finding themselves hard pressed, they entered their canoes again, +and paddled off. The French rowed after them, and soon became separated +in the chase; whereupon the Iroquois turned, and made desperate fight +with the foremost, retreating again as soon as the others came up. +This they repeated several times, and then made their escape, after +killing a number of the best French soldiers. Their leader in this +affair was a famous half-breed, known as the Flemish Bastard, who is +styled by Ragueneau "an abomination of sin, and a monster produced +between a heretic Dutch father and a pagan mother."</p> + +<p id="id01341"> +In the forests far north of Three Rivers dwelt the tribe called the +Atticamegues, or Nation of the White Fish. From their remote position, +and the difficult nature of the intervening country, they thought +themselves safe; but a band of Iroquois, marching on snow-shoes a +distance of twenty days' journey northward from the St. Lawrence, fell +upon one of their camps in the winter, and made a general butchery of the +inmates. The tribe, however, still held its ground for a time, and, +being all good Catholics, gave their missionary, Father Buteux, an urgent +invitation to visit them in their own country. Buteux, who had long been +stationed at Three Rivers, was in ill health, and for years had rarely +been free from some form of bodily suffering. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">421</a></span> +Nevertheless, he acceded +to their request, and, before the opening of spring, made a remarkable +journey on snow-shoes into the depths of this frozen wilderness. +<a href="#footer_31-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> + In the year following, +he repeated the undertaking. With him were a large party of Atticamegues, +and several Frenchmen. Game was exceedingly scarce, and they were forced +by hunger to separate, a Huron convert and a Frenchman named Fontarabie +remaining with the missionary. The snows had melted, and all the streams +were swollen. The three travellers, in a small birch canoe, pushed their +way up a turbulent river, where falls and rapids were so numerous, +that many times daily they were forced to carry their bark vessel and +their baggage through forests and thickets and over rocks and precipices. +On the tenth of May, they made two such portages, and, soon after, +reaching a third fall, again lifted their canoe from the water. They +toiled through the naked forest, among the wet, black trees, over tangled +roots, green, spongy mosses, mouldering leaves, and rotten, prostrate +trunks, while the cataract foamed amidst the rocks hard by. The Indian +led the way with the canoe on his head, while Buteux and the other +Frenchman followed with the baggage. Suddenly they were set upon by a +troop of Iroquois, who had crouched behind thickets, rocks, and fallen +trees, to waylay them. The Huron was captured before he had time to fly. +Buteux and the Frenchman tried to escape, but were instantly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">422</a></span> + shot down, +the Jesuit receiving two balls in the breast. The Iroquois rushed upon +them, mangled their bodies with tomahawks and swords, stripped them, +and then flung them into the torrent. +<a href="#footer_31-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_31-9" name="footer_31-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + <i>Iournal du Pere Iacques Buteux du Voyage qu'il a fait pour la Mission + des Attikamegues</i>. See <i>Relation, 1651</i>, 15. <br /> + <a id="footer_31-10" name="footer_31-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation, 1652</i>, 2, 3. <br /> +</p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_32" id="Chapter_32"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">423</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01342"><a href="#Contents32">CHAPTER XXXII.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1650-1866.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01343" class="smcapheader">THE LAST OF THE HURONS.</p> + <p id="id01344" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Fate of the Vanquished • + The Refugees of St. Jean Baptiste and St. Michel • + The Tobacco Nation and its Wanderings • + The Modern Wyandots • The Biter Bit • + The Hurons at Quebec • Notre-Dame de Lorette. + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01346"> +<span class="smcap">Iroquois</span> bullets and tomahawks had killed +the Hurons by hundreds, but famine and disease had killed incomparably +more. The miseries of the starving crowd on Isle St. Joseph had been +shared in an equal degree by smaller bands, who had wintered in remote +and secret retreats of the wilderness. Of those who survived that +season of death, many were so weakened that they could not endure the +hardships of a wandering life, which was new to them. The Hurons +lived by agriculture: their fields and crops were destroyed, and they +were so hunted from place to place that they could rarely till the +soil. Game was very scarce; and, without agriculture, the country +could support only a scanty and scattered population like that which +maintained a struggling existence in the wilderness of the lower St. +Lawrence. The mortality among the exiles was prodigious.</p> + +<p id="id01347"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">424</a></span> +It is a matter of some interest to trace the fortunes of the shattered +fragments of a nation once prosperous, and, in its own eyes and those of +its neighbors, powerful and great. None were left alive within their +ancient domain. Some had sought refuge among the Neutrals and the Eries, +and shared the disasters which soon overwhelmed those tribes; others +succeeded in reaching the Andastes; while the inhabitants of two towns, +St. Michel and St. Jean Baptiste, had recourse to an expedient which +seems equally strange and desperate, but which was in accordance with +Indian practices. They contrived to open a communication with the Seneca +Nation of the Iroquois, and promised to change their nationality and turn +Senecas as the price of their lives. The victors accepted the proposal; +and the inhabitants of these two towns, joined by a few other Hurons, +migrated in a body to the Seneca country. They were not distributed +among different villages, but were allowed to form a town by themselves, +where they were afterwards joined by some prisoners of the Neutral +Nation. They identified themselves with the Iroquois in all but +religion,—holding so fast to their faith, that, eighteen years after, +a Jesuit missionary found that many of them were still good Catholics. +<a href="#footer_32-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01348" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_32-1" name="footer_32-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + Compare <i>Relation, 1651</i>, 4; <i>1660</i>, 14, 28; + and <i>1670</i>, 69. The Huron town among the + Senecas was called Gandougaraé. Father + Fremin was here in 1668, and gives an account + of his visit in the <i>Relation</i> of 1670.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01349"> +The division of the Hurons called the Tobacco Nation, favored by their +isolated position among +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">425</a></span> +mountains, had held their ground longer than the +rest; but at length they, too, were compelled to fly, together with such +other Hurons as had taken refuge with them. They made their way +northward, and settled on the Island of Michilimackinac, where they were +joined by the Ottawas, who, with other Algonquins, had been driven by +fear of the Iroquois from the western shores of Lake Huron and the banks +of the River Ottawa. At Michilimackinac the Hurons and their allies were +again attacked by the Iroquois, and, after remaining several years, +they made another remove, and took possession of the islands at the mouth +of the Green Bay of Lake Michigan. Even here their old enemy did not +leave them in peace; whereupon they fortified themselves on the main-land, +and afterwards migrated southward and westward. This brought them in +contact with the Illinois, an Algonquin people, at that time very +numerous, but who, like many other tribes at this epoch, were doomed to a +rapid diminution from wars with other savage nations. Continuing their +migration westward, the Hurons and Ottawas reached the Mississippi, +where they fell in with the Sioux. They soon quarrelled with those +fierce children of the prairie, who drove them from their country. +They retreated to the south-western extremity of Lake Superior, and +settled on Point Saint Esprit, or Shagwamigon Point, near the Islands of +the Twelve Apostles. As the Sioux continued to harass them, they left +this place about the year 1671, and returned to Michilimackinac, where +they settled, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">426</a></span> +not on the island, but on the neighboring Point St. Ignace, +<ins title="later editions describe this location differently."> +at the northern extremity of the great peninsula of Michigan.</ins> +The greater part of +them afterwards removed thence to Detroit and Sandusky, where they lived +under the name of Wyandots until within the present century, maintaining +a marked influence over the surrounding Algonquins. They bore an active +part, on the side of the French, in the war which ended in the reduction +of Canada; and they were the most formidable enemies of the English in +the Indian war under Pontiac. +<a href="#footer_32-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> + The government of the United States at length removed them +to reserves on the western frontier, where a remnant of them may still be +found. Thus it appears that the Wyandots, whose name is so conspicuous +in the history of our border wars, are descendants of the ancient Hurons, +and chiefly of that portion of them called the Tobacco Nation. +<a href="#footer_32-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01350" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_32-2" name="footer_32-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + See "History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac."<br /> + <a id="footer_32-3" name="footer_32-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + The migrations of this band of the Hurons may be traced by + detached passages and incidental remarks in the <i>Relations</i> + of 1654, 1660, 1667, 1670, 1671, and 1672. Nicolas Perrot, in + his chapter, <i>Deffaitte et Füitte des Hurons + chassés de leur Pays</i>, and in the chapter following, + gives a long and rather confused account of their movements and + adventures. See also La Poterie, <i>Histoire de + l'Amérique Septentrionale</i>, II. 51-56. According to + the <i>Relation</i> of 1670, the Hurons, when living at + Shagwamigon Point, numbered about fifteen hundred souls. <br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01351"> +When Ragueneau and his party left Isle St. Joseph for Quebec, the greater +number of the Hurons chose to remain. They took possession of the stone +fort which the French had abandoned, and where, with reasonable vigilance, +they could maintain themselves against attack. In the succeeding +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">427</a></span> +autumn +a small Iroquois war-party had the audacity to cross over to the island, +and build a fort of felled trees in the woods. The Hurons attacked them; +but the invaders made so fierce a defence, that they kept their +assailants at bay, and at length retreated with little or no loss. +Soon after, a much larger band of Onondaga Iroquois, approaching +undiscovered, built a fort on the main-land, opposite the island, but +concealed from sight in the forest. Here they waited to waylay any party +of Hurons who might venture ashore. A Huron war chief, named Étienne +Annaotaha, whose life is described as a succession of conflicts and +adventures, and who is said to have been always in luck, landed with a +few companions, and fell into an ambuscade of the Iroquois. He prepared +to defend himself, when they called out to him, that they came not as +enemies, but as friends, and that they brought wampum-belts and presents +to persuade the Hurons to forget the past, go back with them to their +country, become their adopted countrymen, and live with them as one +nation. Étienne suspected treachery, but concealed his distrust, and +advanced towards the Iroquois with an air of the utmost confidence. +They received him with open arms, and pressed him to accept their +invitation; but he replied, that there were older and wiser men among the +Hurons, whose counsels all the people followed, and that they ought to +lay the proposal before them. He proceeded to advise them to keep him as +a hostage, and send over his companions, with some of their chiefs, +to open the negotiation. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">428</a></span> +His apparent frankness completely deceived +them; and they insisted that he himself should go to the Huron village, +while his companions remained as hostages. He set out accordingly with +three of the principal Iroquois.</p> + +<p id="id01352"> +When he reached the village, he gave the whoop of one who brings good +tidings, and proclaimed with a loud voice that the hearts of their +enemies had changed, that the Iroquois would become their countrymen and +brothers, and that they should exchange their miseries for a life of +peace and plenty in a fertile and prosperous land. The whole Huron +population, full of joyful excitement, crowded about him and the three +envoys, who were conducted to the principal lodge, and feasted on the +best that the village could supply. Étienne seized the opportunity to +take aside four or five of the principal chiefs, and secretly tell them +his suspicions that the Iroquois were plotting to compass their +destruction under cover of overtures of peace; and he proposed that they +should meet treachery with treachery. He then explained his plan, +which was highly approved by his auditors, who begged him to charge +himself with the execution of it. Étienne now caused criers to proclaim +through the village that every one should get ready to emigrate in a few +days to the country of their new friends. The squaws began their +preparations at once, and all was bustle and alacrity; for the Hurons +themselves were no less deceived than were the Iroquois envoys.</p> + +<p id="id01353"> +During one or two succeeding days, many messages +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">429</a></span> +and visits passed +between the Hurons and the Iroquois, whose confidence was such, that +thirty-seven of their best warriors at length came over in a body to the +Huron village. Étienne's time had come. He and the chiefs who were in +the secret gave the word to the Huron warriors, who, at a signal, raised +the war-whoop, rushed upon their visitors, and cut them to pieces. +One of them, who lingered for a time, owned before he died that Étienne's +suspicions were just, and that they had designed nothing less than the +massacre or capture of all the Hurons. Three of the Iroquois, +immediately before the slaughter began, had received from Étienne a +warning of their danger in time to make their escape. The year before, +he had been captured, with Brébeuf and Lalemant, at the town of St. Louis, +and had owed his life to these three warriors, to whom he now paid back +the debt of gratitude. They carried tidings of what had befallen to +their countrymen on the main-land, who, aghast at the catastrophe, +fled homeward in a panic. +<a href="#footer_32-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01354" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_32-4" name="footer_32-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation des Hurons, 1651</i>, 5, 6. + Le Mercier, in the <i>Relation</i> of 1654, + preserves the speech of a Huron chief, in which he + speaks of this affair, and adds some particulars not + mentioned by Ragueneau. He gives thirty-four as the + number killed.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01355"> +Here was a sweet morsel of vengeance. The miseries of the Hurons were +lighted up with a brief gleam of joy; but it behooved them to make a +timely retreat from their island before the Iroquois came to exact a +bloody retribution. Towards spring, while the lake was still frozen, +many +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">430</a></span> +of them escaped on the ice, while another party afterwards followed +in canoes. A few, who had neither strength to walk nor canoes to +transport them, perforce remained behind, and were soon massacred by the +Iroquois. The fugitives directed their course to the Grand Manitoulin +Island, where they remained for a short time, and then, to the number of +about four hundred, descended the Ottawa, and rejoined their countrymen +who had gone to Quebec the year before.</p> + +<p id="id01356"> +These united parties, joined from time to time by a few other fugitives, +formed a settlement on land belonging to the Jesuits, near the +south-western extremity of the Isle of Orleans, immediately below Quebec. +Here the Jesuits built a fort, like that on Isle St. Joseph, with a +chapel, and a small house for the missionaries, while the bark dwellings +of the Hurons were clustered around the protecting ramparts. +<a href="#footer_32-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +Tools and seeds were given them, and they were encouraged to cultivate +the soil. Gradually they rallied from their dejection, and the mission +settlement was beginning to wear an appearance of thrift, when, in 1656, +the Iroquois made a descent upon them, and carried off a large number of +captives, under the very cannon of Quebec; the French not daring to fire +upon the invaders, lest they should take revenge +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">431</a></span> +upon the Jesuits who +were at that time in their country. This calamity was, four years after, +followed by another, when the best of the Huron warriors, including their +leader, the crafty and valiant Étienne Annaotaha, were slain, fighting +side by side with the French, in the desperate conflict of the Long +Sault. +<a href="#footer_32-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01357" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_32-5" name="footer_32-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + The site of the fort was the estate now known as "La Terre + du Fort," near the landing of the steam ferry. In 1856, + Mr. N. H. Bowen, a resident near the spot, in making some + excavations, found a solid stone wall five feet thick, + which, there can be little doubt, was that of the work in + question. This wall was originally crowned with palisades. + See Bowen, <i>Historical Sketch of the Isle of Orleans</i>, + 25.<br /> + <a id="footer_32-6" name="footer_32-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + <i>Relation, 1660</i> (anonymous), 14.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01358"> +The attenuated colony, replenished by some straggling bands of the same +nation, and still numbering several hundred persons, was removed to +Quebec after the inroad in 1656, and lodged in a square inclosure of +palisades close to the fort. +<a href="#footer_32-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +Here they remained about ten years, when, +the danger of the times having diminished, they were again removed to a +place called Notre-Dame de Foy, now St. Foi, three or four miles west of +Quebec. Six years after, when the soil was impoverished and the wood in +the neighborhood exhausted, they again changed their abode, and, under +the auspices of the Jesuits, who owned the land, settled at Old Lorette, +nine miles from Quebec.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_32-7" name="footer_32-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + In a plan of Quebec of 1660, the "Fort des Hurons" is laid down on + a spot adjoining the north side of the present Place d'Armes. <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01359"> +Chaumonot was at this time their missionary. It may be remembered that +he had professed special devotion to Our Lady of Loretto, who, in his +boyhood, had cured him, as he believed, of a distressing malady. +<a href="#footer_32-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +He had always cherished the idea of building +a chapel in honor of her in Canada, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">432</a></span> +after the model of the Holy House of +Loretto,—which, as all the world knows, is the house wherein Saint +Joseph dwelt with his virgin spouse, and which angels bore through the +air from the Holy Land to Italy, where it remains an object of pilgrimage +to this day. Chaumonot opened his plan to his brother Jesuits, who were +delighted with it, and the chapel was begun at once, not without the +intervention of miracle to aid in raising the necessary funds. It was +built of brick, like its original, of which it was an exact facsimile; +and it stood in the centre of a quadrangle, the four sides of which were +formed by the bark dwellings of the Hurons, ranged with perfect order in +straight lines. Hither came many pilgrims from Quebec and more distant +settlements, and here Our Lady granted to her suppliants, says Chaumonot, +many miraculous favors, insomuch that "it would require an entire book to +describe them all." +<a href="#footer_32-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01360" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_32-8" name="footer_32-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + See <i>ante</i>, <a href="#Page_102">(p. 102)</a>. <br /> + <a id="footer_32-9" name="footer_32-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + "Les grâces qu'on y obtient par l'entremise de la Mère + de Dieu vont jusqu'au miracle. Comme il faudroit composer un livre + entier pour décrire toutes ces faveurs extraordinaires, je + n'en rapporterai que deux, ayant été témoin + oculaire de l'une et propre sujet de l'autre."—<i>Vie</i>, 95. + </p> + <p id="id01361"> + The removal from Notre-Dame de Foy took place at the end of 1673, + and the chapel was finished in the following year. Compare <i>Vie + de Chaumonot</i> with Dablon, <i>Relation, 1672-73</i>, p. 21; and + Ibid., <i>Relation 1673-79</i>, p. 259.<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<p id="id01362"> +But the Hurons were not destined to remain permanently even here; for, +before the end of the century, they removed to a place four miles distant, +now called New Lorette, or Indian Lorette. It was a wild spot, covered +with the primitive forest, and seamed by a deep and tortuous ravine, +where +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">433</a></span> +the St. Charles foams, white as a snow-drift, over the black ledges, +and where the sunlight struggles through matted boughs of the pine and +fir, to bask for brief moments on the mossy rocks or flash on the +hurrying waters. On a plateau beside the torrent, another chapel was +built to Our Lady, and another Huron town sprang up; and here, to this +day, the tourist finds the remnant of a lost people, harmless weavers of +baskets and sewers of moccasins, the Huron blood fast bleaching out of +them, as, with every generation, they mingle and fade away in the French +population around. +<a href="#footer_32-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01363" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_32-10" name="footer_32-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + An interesting account of a visit to Indian Lorette in 1721 will be + found in the <i>Journal Historique</i> of Charlevoix. Kalm, in his + <i>Travels in North America</i>, describes its condition in 1749. + See also Le Beau, <i>Aventures</i>, I. 103; who, however, can hardly + be regarded as an authority.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_33" id="Chapter_33"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">434</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01364"><a href="#Contents33">CHAPTER XXXIII.</a><br /> + <span class="med">1650-1670.</span> + </h2> + <p id="id01365" class="smcapheader">THE DESTROYERS.</p> + <p id="id01366" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Iroquois Ambition • Its Victims • + The Fate of the Neutrals • The Fate of the Eries • + The War with the Andastes • Supremacy of the Iroquois + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01368"> +<span class="smcap">It</span> was well for the European colonies, +above all for those of England, that the wisdom of the Iroquois +was but the wisdom of savages. Their sagacity is past denying; +it showed itself in many ways; but it was not equal to a +comprehension of their own situation and that of their race. +Could they have read their destiny, and curbed their mad ambition, +they might have leagued with themselves four great communities of kindred +lineage, to resist the encroachments of civilization, and oppose a +barrier of fire to the spread of the young colonies of the East. But +their organization and their intelligence were merely the instruments of +a blind frenzy, which impelled them to destroy those whom they might have +made their allies in a common cause.</p> + +<p id="id01369"> +Of the four kindred communities, two at least, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">435</a></span> +the Hurons and the +Neutrals, were probably superior in numbers to the Iroquois. Either one +of these, with union and leadership, could have held its ground against +them, and the two united could easily have crippled them beyond the power +of doing mischief. But these so-called nations were mere aggregations of +villages and families, with nothing that deserved to be called a +government. They were very liable to panics, because the part attacked +by an enemy could never rely with confidence on prompt succor from the +rest; and when once broken, they could not be rallied, because they had +no centre around which to gather. The Iroquois, on the other hand, +had an organization with which the ideas and habits of several +generations were interwoven, and they had also sagacious leaders for +peace and war. They discussed all questions of policy with the coolest +deliberation, and knew how to turn to profit even imperfections in their +plan of government which seemed to promise only weakness and discord. +Thus, any nation, or any large town, of their confederacy, could make a +separate war or a separate peace with a foreign nation, or any part of +it. Some member of the league, as, for example, the Cayugas, would make +a covenant of friendship with the enemy, and, while the infatuated +victims were thus lulled into a delusive security, the war-parties of the +other nations, often joined by the Cayuga warriors, would overwhelm them +by a sudden onset. But it was not by their craft, nor by their +organization,—which for military purposes was wretchedly +feeble,—that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">436</a></span> +this handful of savages gained a bloody supremacy. They carried all +before them, because they were animated throughout, as one man, by the +same audacious pride and insatiable rage for conquest. Like other +Indians, they waged war on a plan altogether democratic,—that is, +each man fought or not, as he saw fit; and they owed their unity and +vigor of action to the homicidal frenzy that urged them all alike.</p> + +<p id="id01370"> +The Neutral Nation had taken no part, on either side, in the war of +extermination against the Hurons; and their towns were sanctuaries where +either of the contending parties might take asylum. On the other hand, +they made fierce war on their western neighbors, and, a few years before, +destroyed, with atrocious cruelties, a large fortified town of the Nation +of Fire. +<a href="#footer_33-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +Their turn was now come, and their victims found fit +avengers; for no sooner +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">437</a></span> +were the Hurons broken up and dispersed, than the +Iroquois, without waiting to take breath, turned their fury on the +Neutrals. At the end of the autumn of 1650, they assaulted and took one +of their chief towns, said to have contained at the time more than +sixteen hundred men, besides women and children; and early in the +following spring, they took another town. The slaughter was prodigious, +and the victors drove back troops of captives for butchery or adoption. +It was the death-blow of the Neutrals. They abandoned their corn-fields +and villages in the wildest terror, and dispersed themselves abroad in +forests, which could not yield sustenance to such a multitude. They +perished by thousands, and from that time forth the nation ceased to +exist. +<a href="#footer_33-2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01371" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_33-1" name="footer_33-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + "Last summer," writes Lalemant in 1643, "two thousand warriors of + the Neutral Nation attacked a town of the Nation of Fire, well fortified + with a palisade, and defended by nine hundred warriors. They took it + after a siege of ten days; killed many on the spot; and made eight + hundred prisoners, men, women, and children. After burning seventy of + the best warriors, they put out the eyes of the old men, and cut away + their lips, and then left them to drag out a miserable existence. + Behold the scourge that is depopulating all this + country!"—<i>Relation des Hurons, 1644</i>, 98.</p> + <p id="id01372"> + The Assistaeronnons, Atsistaehonnons, Mascoutins, or Nation of Fire + (more correctly, perhaps, Nation of the Prairie), were a very numerous + Algonquin people of the West, speaking the same language as the Sacs and + Foxes. In the map of Sanson, they are placed in the southern part of + Michigan; and according to the <i>Relation</i> of 1658, they had thirty + towns. They were a stationary, and in some measure an agricultural + people. They fled before their enemies to the neighborhood of Fox River + in Wisconsin, where they long remained. Frequent mention of them will + be found in the later <i>Relations</i>, and in contemporary documents. + They are now extinct as a tribe. </p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_33-2" name="footer_33-2"></a> + <span class="superscript">[2]</span> + Ragueneau, <i>Relation, 1651</i>, 4. In the unpublished journal kept + by the Superior of the Jesuits at Quebec, it is said, under date of + April, 1651, that news had just come from Montreal, that, in the + preceding autumn, fifteen hundred Iroquois had taken a Neutral town; + that the Neutrals had afterwards attacked them, and killed two hundred + of their warriors; and that twelve hundred Iroquois had again invaded + the Neutral country to take their revenge. Lafitau, <i>Mœurs + des Sauvages</i>, II. 176, gives, on the authority of Father Julien + Garnier, a singular and improbable account of the origin of the war.</p> + <p id="id01374"> + An old chief, named Kenjockety, who claimed descent from an adopted + prisoner of the Neutral Nation, was recently living among the Senecas + of Western New York. + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01375"> +During two or three succeeding years, the Iroquois contented themselves +with harassing the French and Algonquins; but in 1653 they made treaties +of peace, each of the five nations for itself, and the colonists and +their red allies had an interval of rest. In the following May, an +Onondaga orator, on a peace visit to Montreal, said, in a speech +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">438</a></span> + to the +Governor, "Our young men will no more fight the French; but they are too +warlike to stay at home, and this summer we shall invade the country of +the Eries. The earth trembles and quakes in that quarter; but here all +remains calm." +<a href="#footer_33-3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +Early in the autumn, +Father Le Moyne, who had taken advantage of the peace to go on a mission +to the Onondagas, returned with the tidings that the Iroquois were all on +fire with this new enterprise, and were about to march against the Eries +with eighteen hundred warriors. +<a href="#footer_33-4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_33-3" name="footer_33-3"></a> + <span class="superscript">[3]</span> + Le Mercier, <i>Relation, 1654</i>, 9.<br /> + <a id="footer_33-4" name="footer_33-4"></a> + <span class="superscript">[4]</span> + <i>Ibid.</i>, 10. Le Moyne, in his interesting journal of his + mission, repeatedly alludes to their preparations.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01376"> +The occasion of this new war is said to have been as follows. The Eries, +who it will be remembered dwelt on the south of the lake named after them, +had made a treaty of peace with the Senecas, and in the preceding year +had sent a deputation of thirty of their principal men to confirm it. +While they were in the great Seneca town, it happened that one of that +nation was killed in a casual quarrel with an Erie; whereupon his +countrymen rose in a fury, and murdered the thirty deputies. Then ensued +a brisk war of reprisals, in which not only the Senecas, but the other +Iroquois nations, took part. The Eries captured a famous Onondaga chief, +and were about to burn him, when he succeeded in convincing them of the +wisdom of a course of conciliation; and they resolved to give him to the +sister of one of the murdered deputies, to take the place of her lost +brother. The sister, by Indian law, had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">439</a></span> +it in her choice to receive him +with a fraternal embrace or to burn him; but, though she was absent at +the time, no one doubted that she would choose the gentler alternative. +Accordingly, he was clothed in gay attire, and all the town fell to +feasting in honor of his adoption. In the midst of the festivity, +the sister returned. To the amazement of the Erie chiefs, she rejected +with indignation their proffer of a new brother, declared that she would +be revenged for her loss, and insisted that the prisoner should forthwith +be burned. The chiefs remonstrated in vain, representing the danger in +which such a procedure would involve the nation: the female fury was +inexorable; and the unfortunate prisoner, stripped of his festal robes, +was bound to the stake, and put to death. +<a href="#footer_33-5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +He warned his tormentors with his last breath, that they were +burning not only him, but the whole Erie nation; since his countrymen +would take a fiery vengeance for his fate. His words proved true; for no +sooner was his story spread abroad among the Iroquois, than the +confederacy resounded with war-songs from end to end, and the warriors +took the field under their two great war-chiefs. Notwithstanding Le +Moyne's report, their number, according to the Iroquois account, did not +exceed twelve hundred. +<a href="#footer_33-6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01377" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_33-5" name="footer_33-5"></a> + <span class="superscript">[5]</span> + De Quen, <i>Relation, 1656</i>, 30.<br /> + <a id="footer_33-6" name="footer_33-6"></a> + <span class="superscript">[6]</span> + This was their statement to Chaumonot and Dablon, at Onondaga, in + November of this year. They added, that the number of the Eries was + between three and four thousand, (<i>Journal des PP. Chaumonot et + Dablon</i>, in <i>Relation, 1656</i>, 18.) In the narrative of De + Quen (<i>Ibid.</i>, 30, 31), based, of course, on Iroquois reports, + the Iroquois force is also set down at twelve hundred, but that of + the Eries is reduced to between two and three thousand warriors. + Even this may safely be taken as an exaggeration.</p> + <p id="id01378"> + Though the Eries had no fire-arms, they used poisoned arrows with great + effect, discharging them, it is said, with surprising rapidity.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01379"> +They embarked in canoes on the lake. At their approach the Eries fell +back, withdrawing into the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">440</a></span> +forests towards the west, till they were +gathered into one body, when, fortifying themselves with palisades and +felled trees, they awaited the approach of the invaders. By the lowest +estimate, the Eries numbered two thousand warriors, besides women and +children. But this is the report of the Iroquois, who were naturally +disposed to exaggerate the force of their enemies.</p> + +<p id="id01380"> +They approached the Erie fort, and two of their chiefs, dressed like +Frenchmen, advanced and called on those within to surrender. One of them +had lately been baptized by Le Moyne; and he shouted to the Eries, that, +if they did not yield in time, they were all dead men, for the Master of +Life was on the side of the Iroquois. The Eries answered with yells of +derision. "Who is this master of your lives?" they cried; "our hatchets +and our right arms are the masters of ours." The Iroquois rushed to the +assault, but were met with a shower of poisoned arrows, which killed and +wounded many of them, and drove the rest back. They waited awhile, +and then attacked again with unabated mettle. This time, they carried +their bark canoes over their heads like huge shields, to protect them +from the storm of arrows; then planting them upright, and mounting them +by the cross-bars like ladders, scaled the barricade with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">441</a></span> +such impetuous +fury that the Eries were thrown into a panic. Those escaped who could; +but the butchery was frightful, and from that day the Eries as a nation +were no more. The victors paid dear for their conquest. Their losses +were so heavy that they were forced to remain for two months in the Erie +country, to bury their dead and nurse their wounded. +<a href="#footer_33-7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01381" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_33-7" name="footer_33-7"></a> + <span class="superscript">[7]</span> + De Quen, <i>Relation, 1656</i>, 31. The Iroquois, it seems, + afterwards made other expeditions, to finish their work. At + least, they told Chaumonot and Dablon, in the autumn of this + year, that they meant to do so in the following spring.</p> + <p id="id01382"> + It seems, that, before attacking the great fort of the Eries, the + Iroquois had made a promise to worship the new God of the French, if He + would give them the victory. This promise, and the success which + followed, proved of great advantage to the mission.</p> + <p id="id01383"> + Various traditions are extant among the modern remnant of the Iroquois + concerning the war with the Eries. They agree in little beyond the fact + of the existence and destruction of that people. Indeed, Indian + traditions are very rarely of any value as historical evidence. One of + these stories, told me some years ago by a very intelligent Iroquois of + the Cayuga Nation, is a striking illustration of Iroquois ferocity. + It represents, that, the night after the great battle, the forest was + lighted up with more than a thousand fires, at each of which an Erie was + burning alive. It differs from the historical accounts in making the + Eries the aggressors.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01384"> +One enemy of their own race remained,—the Andastes. This nation appears +to have been inferior in numbers to either the Hurons, the Neutrals, +or the Eries; but they cost their assailants more trouble than all these +united. The Mohawks seem at first to have borne the brunt of the Andaste +war; and, between the years 1650 and 1660, they were so roughly handled +by these stubborn adversaries, that they were reduced from the height of +audacious insolence to the depths of dejection. +<a href="#footer_33-8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +The remaining +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">442</a></span> +four nations of the Iroquois league now took up the quarrel, and fared +scarcely better than the Mohawks. In the spring of 1662, eight hundred +of their warriors set out for the Andaste country, to strike a decisive +blow; but when they reached the great town of their enemies, they saw +that they had received both aid and counsel from the neighboring Swedish +colonists. The town was fortified by a double palisade, flanked by two +bastions, on which, it is said, several small pieces of cannon were +mounted. Clearly, it was not to be carried by assault, as the invaders +had promised themselves. Their only hope was in treachery; and, +accordingly, twenty-five of their warriors gained entrance, on pretence +of settling the terms of a peace. Here, again, ensued a grievous +disappointment; for the Andastes seized them all, built high scaffolds +visible from without, and tortured them to death in sight of their +countrymen, who thereupon decamped in miserable discomfiture. +<a href="#footer_33-9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01385" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_33-8" name="footer_33-8"></a> + <span class="superscript">[8]</span> + <i>Relation, 1660</i>, 6 (anonymous).</p> + <p id="id01386"> + The Mohawks also suffered great reverses about this time at the hands of + their Algonquin neighbors, the Mohicans.</p> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_33-9" name="footer_33-9"></a> + <span class="superscript">[9]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1663</i>, 10.<br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01387"> +The Senecas, by far the most numerous of the five Iroquois nations, +now found themselves attacked in turn,—and this, too, at a time when +they were full of despondency at the ravages of the small-pox. The +French reaped a profit from their misfortunes; for the disheartened +savages made them overtures of peace, and begged that they would settle +in their country, teach them to fortify their towns, supply them with +arms and ammunition, and bring "black-robes" to show them the road to +Heaven. +<a href="#footer_33-10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_33-10" name="footer_33-10"></a> + <span class="superscript">[10]</span> + Lalemant, <i>Relation, 1664</i>, 33.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01388"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">443</a></span> +The Andaste war became a war of inroads and skirmishes, under which the +weaker party gradually wasted away, though it sometimes won laurels at +the expense of its adversary. Thus, in 1672, a party of twenty Senecas +and forty Cayugas went against the Andastes. They were at a considerable +distance the one from the other, the Cayugas being in advance, when the +Senecas were set upon by about sixty young Andastes, of the class known +as "Burnt-Knives," or "Soft-Metals," because as yet they had taken no +scalps. Indeed, they are described as mere boys, fifteen or sixteen +years old. They killed one of the Senecas, captured another, and put the +rest to flight; after which, flushed with their victory, they attacked +the Cayugas with the utmost fury, and routed them completely, killing +eight of them, and wounding twice that number, who, as is reported by the +Jesuit then in the Cayuga towns, came home half dead with gashes of +knives and hatchets. +<a href="#footer_33-11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +"May God preserve +the Andastes," exclaims the Father, "and prosper their arms, that the +Iroquois may be humbled, and we and our missions left in peace!" "None +but they," he elsewhere adds, "can curb the pride of the Iroquois." +The only strength of the Andastes, however, was in their courage: for at +this time they were reduced to three hundred fighting men; and about the +year 1675 they were finally overborne by the Senecas. +<a href="#footer_33-12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +Yet they were not wholly destroyed; for a remnant +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">444</a></span> +of this valiant people continued to subsist, +under the name of Conestogas, for nearly a century, until, in 1763, +they were butchered, as already mentioned, by the white ruffians known as +the "Paxton Boys." +<a href="#footer_33-13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_33-11" name="footer_33-11"></a> + <span class="superscript">[11]</span> + Dablon, <i>Relation, 1672</i>, 24.<br /> + <a id="footer_33-12" name="footer_33-12"></a> + <span class="superscript">[12]</span> + <i>État Présent des Missions</i>, in + <i>Relations Inédites</i>, II. 44. <i>Relation, 1676</i>, + 2. This is one of the <i>Relations</i> printed by Mr. Lenox.<br /> + <a id="footer_33-13" name="footer_33-13"></a> + <span class="superscript">[13]</span> + "History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac," Chap. XXIV. + Compare Shea, in <i>Historical Magazine</i>, II. 297.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<p id="id01389"> +The bloody triumphs of the Iroquois were complete. They had "made a +solitude, and called it peace." All the surrounding nations of their own +lineage were conquered and broken up, while neighboring Algonquin tribes +were suffered to exist only on condition of paying a yearly tribute of +wampum. The confederacy remained a wedge thrust between the growing +colonies of France and England.</p> + +<p id="id01390"> +But what was the state of the conquerors? Their triumphs had cost them +dear. As early as the year 1660, a writer, evidently well-informed, +reports that their entire force had been reduced to twenty-two hundred +warriors, while of these not more than twelve hundred were of the true +Iroquois stock. The rest was a medley of adopted prisoners,—Hurons, +Neutrals, Eries, and Indians of various Algonquin tribes. +<a href="#footer_33-14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +Still their aggressive +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">445</a></span> +spirit was unsubdued. These incorrigible +warriors pushed their murderous raids to Hudson's Bay, Lake Superior, +the Mississippi, and the Tennessee; they were the tyrants of all the +intervening wilderness; and they remained, for more than half a century, +a terror and a scourge to the afflicted colonists of New France.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01391" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_33-14" name="footer_33-14"></a> + <span class="superscript">[14]</span> + <i>Relation, 1660</i>, 6, 7 (anonymous). Le Jeune says, "Their + victories have so depopulated their towns, that there are more + foreigners in them than natives. At Onondaga there are Indians + of seven different nations permanently established; and, among + the Senecas, of no less than eleven." (<i>Relation, 1657</i>, 34.) + These were either adopted prisoners, or Indians who had + voluntarily joined the Iroquois to save themselves from their + hostility. They took no part in councils, but were expected to + join war-parties, though they were usually excused from fighting + against their former countrymen. The condition of female + prisoners was little better than that of slaves, and those to + whom they were assigned often killed them on the slightest + pique.<br /> + </p> +</div> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><a name="Chapter_34" id="Chapter_34"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">446</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2 id="id01392"><a href="#Contents34">CHAPTER XXXIV.</a><br /> + </h2> + <p id="id01393" class="smcapheader">THE END.</p> + <p id="id01394" class="noindent space-bottom"> + Failure of the Jesuits • + What their Success would have involved • + Future of the Mission + </p> + <p class="break1"></p> +</div> + + +<p class="double-space-top" id="id01395"> +<span class="smcap">With</span> the fall of the Hurons, fell the best +hope of the Canadian mission. They, and the stable and populous +communities around them, had been the rude material from which the +Jesuit would have formed his Christian empire in the wilderness; but, +one by one, these kindred peoples were uprooted and swept away, while +the neighboring Algonquins, to whom they had been a bulwark, were +involved with them in a common ruin. The land of promise was turned +to a solitude and a desolation. There was still work in hand, it is +true,—vast regions to explore, and countless heathens to snatch +from perdition; but these, for the most part, were remote and scattered +hordes, from whose conversion it was vain to look for the same solid +and decisive results.</p> + +<p id="id01396"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">447</a></span> +In a measure, the occupation of the Jesuits was gone. Some of them went +home, "well resolved," writes the Father Superior, "to return to the +combat at the first sound of the trumpet;" +<a href="#footer_34-1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +while of those who remained, about twenty in number, several soon fell +victims to famine, hardship, and the Iroquois. A few years more, and +Canada ceased to be a mission; political and commercial interests +gradually became ascendant, and the story of Jesuit propagandism was +interwoven with her civil and military annals.</p> + +<div class="footer"> + <p id="id01397" class="noindent"> + <a id="footer_34-1" name="footer_34-1"></a> + <span class="superscript">[1]</span> + <i>Lettre de Lalemant au R. P. Provincial (Relation, 1650</i>, 48). + <br /> + </p> +</div> + + +<p id="id01398"> +Here, then, closes this wild and bloody act of the great drama of New +France; and now let the curtain fall, while we ponder its meaning. +</p> + +<p id="id01399"> +The cause of the failure of the Jesuits is obvious. The guns and +tomahawks of the Iroquois were the ruin of their hopes. Could they have +curbed or converted those ferocious bands, it is little less than certain +that their dream would have become a reality. Savages tamed—not +civilized, for that was scarcely possible—would have been distributed +in communities through the valleys of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi, +ruled by priests in the interest of Catholicity and of France. Their +habits of agriculture would have been developed, and their instincts of +mutual slaughter repressed. The swift decline of the Indian population +would have been arrested; and it would have been made, through the +fur-trade, a source of prosperity to New France. Unmolested by Indian +enemies, and fed by a rich commerce, she would have put forth a vigorous +growth. True to her far-reaching and adventurous genius, she would have +occupied the West with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">448</a></span> +traders, settlers, and garrisons, and cut up the +virgin wilderness into fiefs, while as yet the colonies of England were +but a weak and broken line along the shore of the Atlantic; and when at +last the great conflict came, England and Liberty would have been +confronted, not by a depleted antagonist, still feeble from the +exhaustion of a starved and persecuted infancy, but by an athletic +champion of the principles of Richelieu and of Loyola.</p> + +<p id="id01400"> +Liberty may thank the Iroquois, that, by their insensate fury, the plans +of her adversary were brought to nought, and a peril and a woe averted +from her future. They ruined the trade which was the life-blood of New +France; they stopped the current of her arteries, and made all her early +years a misery and a terror. Not that they changed her destinies. +The contest on this continent between Liberty and Absolutism was never +doubtful; but the triumph of the one would have been dearly bought, +and the downfall of the other incomplete. Populations formed in the +ideas and habits of a feudal monarchy, and controlled by a hierarchy +profoundly hostile to freedom of thought, would have remained a hindrance +and a stumbling-block in the way of that majestic experiment of which +America is the field.</p> + +<p id="id01401"> +The Jesuits saw their hopes struck down; and their faith, though not +shaken, was sorely tried. The Providence of God seemed in their eyes +dark and inexplicable; but, from the stand-point of Liberty, that +Providence is clear as the sun at noon. Meanwhile let those who have +prevailed yield due +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">449</a></span> +honor to the defeated. Their virtues shine amidst +the rubbish of error, like diamonds and gold in the gravel of the torrent.</p> + +<p id="id01402"> +But now new scenes succeed, and other actors enter on the stage, a hardy +and valiant band, moulded to endure and dare,—the Discoverers of the +Great West.</p> + + +<div class="chapterhead"> + <p class="center"> + <br/> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">453</a></span> + <a name="Index" id="Index"></a> + <br/><br/><br/> + </p> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents35">INDEX</a> + </h2> + </div> + <p class="center noindent smcap">The Roman Numerals refer to the introduction. </p> + + + <h3>A.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Abenaquis</i>, where found, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>; + ask for a missionary, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.<br/> + Abraham, Plains of, whence the name, + <a href="#Page_335">335</a> <i>note</i>.<br/> + Adoption of prisoners as members of the tribe, + <a href="#Page_lxvi">lxvi</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, + <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, + <a href="#Page_444">444</a>.<br/> + Adventures and sufferings of an Algonquin woman, + <a href="#Page_309">309</a>-<a href="#Page_313">313</a>; + of another, + <a href="#Page_313">313</a>-<a href="#Page_316">316</a>.<br/> + Agnier, a name for the Mohawks, + <a href="#Page_xlviii">xlviii</a> <i>note</i>.<br /> + Aiguillon, Duchess d', founds a Hôtel-Dieu at Quebec, + <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br/> + Albany, formerly Rensselaerswyck, its condition in 1643, + <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.<br/> + <i>Algonquins,</i> a comprehensive term, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>; + regions occupied by them in 1535, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>; + the designation, how applied, <i>ib. note</i>; + found in New England, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>; + their relation to the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>; + numbers, <i>ib.</i>; + Algonquin missions, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>.<br/> + Allumette Island, + <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>; + its true position, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.<br /> + <i>Amikouas</i>, or People of the Beaver, + <a href="#Page_lxviii">lxviii</a> <i>note</i>; + supposed descent from that animal, <i>ib.</i> <br/> + Amusements of the Indians, <a href="#Page_xxxvi">xxxvi</a>; + the Jesuits require them to be abandoned, + <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.<br/> + <i>Andacwandet</i>, a strange method of cure, + <a href="#Page_xlii">xlii</a>.<br/> + <i>Andastes</i>, where found in the early times, + <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_xlvi">xlvi</a>; + fierce warriors, <a href="#Page_xlvi">xlvi</a>; + identical with the Susquehannocks, <i>ib. note</i>; + their aid sought by the Hurons, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>; + the result unsatisfactory, <a href="#Page_344">344</a> <i>seq.</i>; + war with the Mohawks, <a href="#Page_441">441</a>; + assisted by the Swedes from Delaware River, + <a href="#Page_442">442</a>; + repulse an attack of the Iroquois, <i>ib.</i>; + a party of Andaste boys defeat the Senecas and Cayugas, + <a href="#Page_443">443</a>; + finally subdued by the Senecas, <i>ib.</i><br /> + <i>Aquanuscioni,</i> or Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_xlviii">xlviii</a> <i>note</i>.<br/> + Areskoui, the god of war, <a href="#Page_lxxvii">lxxvii</a>; + human sacrifices offered to him, <i>ib.</i>; + a captive Iroquois sacrificed to him, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.<br/> + <i>Armouchiquois,</i> + a name applied to the Algonquins of New England, + <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>; + a strange account of them given by Champlain, + <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a> <i>note</i>.<br /> + Arts of life, as practised by the Hurons, + <a href="#Page_xxxi">xxxi</a>.<br/> + <i>Assistaeronnons,</i> or Nation of Fire. + See <i>Nation of Fire</i>.<br/> + <i>Ataentsic,</i> a malignant deity; + the moon, <a href="#Page_lxxvi">lxxvi</a>.<br/> + <i>Atahocan,</i> a dim conception of the Supreme Being, + <a href="#Page_lxxiv">lxxiv</a>.<br/> + Atotarho of the Onondagas, <a href="#Page_liv">liv</a>, + <a href="#Page_lvii">lvii</a>.<br/> + Attendants of the Jesuits, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a> <i>note,</i> <a href="#Page_132">132</a>. + See <i>Donnés.</i><br /> + <i>Atticamegues,</i> <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, + <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>; + attacked by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>.<br/> + <i>Attigouantans.</i> See <i>Hurons.</i><br /> + <i>Attiwandarons,</i> or Neutral Nation, why so called, + <a href="#Page_xliv">xliv</a>; + their country, <i>ib.</i>; + ferocious and cruel, <a href="#Page_xlv">xlv</a>; + licentious, <i>ib.;</i> + their treatment of the dead, <i>ib.</i> + See <i>Neutral Nation</i>.<br/> + <p><br/></p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">454</a></span> + </div> + <h3>B.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Baptism of dying men, + <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>; + clandestine, of infants, + <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, + <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>; + of an influential Huron, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>; + conditions of baptism, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>; + baptisms, number in a year, + <a href="#Page_136">136</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Birch-bark used instead of writing-paper, + <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.<br/> + Bourgeoys, Marguerite, her character, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>; + foundress of the school at Montreal, + <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.<br/> + Bradford, William, governor of Plymouth, + kindly entertains the Jesuit Druilletes, + <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.<br/> + Brébeuf, Jean de, arrives at Quebec, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, + <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>; + commences his journey to the Huron country, + <a href="#Page_53">53</a>; + suffers great fatigue by the way, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>; + his intrepidity, <a href="#Page_54">54</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>; + arrives in the Huron country, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>; + his previous residence there, <i>ib.;</i> + his misgivings as to his future treatment by the Indians, + <a href="#Page_57">57</a> <i>note;</i> + the Indians build a house for him, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + the house described, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>; + its furniture, <i>ib.;</i> + Brébeuf witnesses the " Feast of the Dead," + <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + witnesses a human sacrifice, <a href="#Page_80">80</a> <i>seq.;</i> + his uncompromising manner, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>; + "the Ajax of the mission," <a href="#Page_99">99</a>; + his dealings with beings from the invisible world, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>; + sees a great cross in the air, + <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>; + his courage, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>; + his letter in prospect of martyrdom, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>; + harangues the Hurons at a <i>festin d'adieu,</i> + <a href="#Page_123">123</a>; + commences a mission in the Neutral Nation, + <a href="#Page_143">143</a>; + sees miraculous sights, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>; + at the Huron mission, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>; + taken by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>; + his appalling fate, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>; + his intrepid character, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>; + his skull preserved to this day at Quebec, + <a href="#Page_391">391</a>; + his visions and revelations, <a href="#Page_392">392</a> <i>note;</i> + a saint and a hero, <i>ib.</i> <br /> + Bressani, Joseph, attempts to go to the Hurons, + <a href="#Page_251">251</a>; + taken by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>; + terrible sufferings from his captors, + <a href="#Page_253">253</a>-<a href="#Page_255">255</a>; + his escape, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>; + at the Huron Mission, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>.<br/> + Brulé, Étienne, murdered by the Hurons, + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>; + the murder supposed to be avenged by a raging pestilence, + <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.<br/> + Bullion, Madame de, founds a hospital at Montreal, + <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br/> + Burning of captives alive, + instances of, <a href="#Page_xlv">xlv</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_80">80</a>-<a href="#Page_82">82</a>; + <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>; + <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, + <a href="#Page_385">385</a>; + <a href="#Page_436">436</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, + <a href="#Page_441">441</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Buteux, Jacques, his toilsome journey, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>; + waylaid by the Iroquois and slain, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>.<br/> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>C.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Cannibalism of the Hurons, + <a href="#Page_xxxix">xxxix</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, + of the Miamis, <a href="#Page_xl">xl</a>; + other instances, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br/> + Canoes, Indian, <a href="#Page_xxxi">xxxi</a>.<br/> + Capuchins, + unsuccessful attempt to introduce them into Canada, + <a href="#Page_159">159</a> <i>note;</i> + a station of them on the Penobscot, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>.<br/> + Cayugas, one of the Five Nations, + <a href="#Page_xlviii">xlviii</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_liv">liv</a>. + See <i>Iroquois.</i><br /> + Cemeteries of Indians lately opened, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>; + description of them, <i>ib.</i><br /> + Chabanel, Noël, joins the mission, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>; + among the Hurons, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>; + recalled from St. Jean, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>; + his journey, <i>ib.;</i> + murdered by a renegade Huron, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>; + his vow, <a href="#Page_410">410</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Champfleur, commandant at Three Rivers, + <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.<br /> + Champlain, Samuel de, resumes command at Quebec, + <a href="#Page_20">20</a>; + his explorations, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>; + introduces the missionaries to the Hurons, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>; + assists the missionaries at their departure, + <a href="#Page_50">50</a>; + his death, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.<br /> + Chatelain, Pierre, joins the mission, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>; + his illness, <i>ib.;</i> + his peril, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.<br /> + Chaumonot, Joseph Marie, his early life, + <a href="#Page_101">101</a>-<a href="#Page_104">104</a>; + his gratitude to the Virgin, + <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>; + becomes a Jesuit, and embarks for Canada, + <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>; + narrowly escapes death, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>; + goes with Brébeuf to convert the Neutrals, + <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + his extreme peril, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>; + saved by the interference of Saint Michael, <i>ib.;</i> + among the Hurons, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>; + with a colony of Hurons, near Quebec, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>; + builds Lorette, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>.<br/> + Choctaws, like the Iroquois, have eight clans, + <a href="#Page_lvi">lvi</a> <i>note.</i><br/> + Clanship, system of, + <a href="#Page_l">l</a>-<a href="#Page_lii">lii</a>.<br/> + Clock of the Jesuits an object of wonder to the Hurons, + <a href="#Page_61">61</a>; + an object of alarm, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.<br/> + Colonization, French and English, compared, + <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>.<br/> + Condé, in his youth writes to Paul Le Jeune, + <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.<br/> + Conestogas. See <i>Andastes.</i> <br/> + Converts, how made, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, + <a href="#Page_162">162</a> <i>seq.</i> <br/> + Couillard, a resident in Quebec, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, + <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.<br/> + Councils of the Iroquois, their power, + <a href="#Page_lvii">lvii</a>-<a href="#Page_lx">lx</a>.<br/> + Council, nocturnal, of the Hurons, + relative to the epidemic in 1637, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.<br/> + Couture, Guillaume, a <i>donné</i> of the mission, + <a href="#Page_214">214</a>; + a prisoner to the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>; + tortured by them, + <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">455</a></span> + adopted by them, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>; + assists in negotiations for peace, + <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>; + returns with the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.<br/> + Crania of Indians compared with those of Caucasian races, + <a href="#Page_lxiii">lxiii</a>.<br/> + Credulity and superstition of the Indians, + <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.<br/> + Crime, how punished, <a href="#Page_lxi">lxi</a>.<br/> + Cruelties, Indian, <a href="#Page_xlv">xlv</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a> <i>seq.,</i> + <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, + <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, + <a href="#Page_303">303</a> <i>seq.,</i> + <a href="#Page_308">308</a> <i>seq.,</i> + <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, + <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, + <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, + <a href="#Page_388">388</a> <i>seq.,</i> + <a href="#Page_436">436</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, + <a href="#Page_441">441</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Custom, with the Indians, had the force of law, + <a href="#Page_xlix">xlix</a>.<br/> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>D.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Dahcotahs,</i> found east of the Mississippi, + <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a> <i>note;</i> + their villages, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a>.<br/> + D'Ailleboust de Coulonges, Louis, + lands at Montreal, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>; + history, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>; + fortifies Montreal, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>; + becomes governor of Canada, + <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.<br/> + Daily life of the Jesuits, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>; + their food, <i>ib.;</i> + how obtained, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.<br/> + Dallion, La Roche, + visits the Neutral Nation in 1626, <a href="#Page_xliv">xliv</a>; + exposed to great danger among them, + <a href="#Page_xlvi">xlvi</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.<br/> + Daniel, Antoine, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, + <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>; + commences his journey to the Huron country, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>; + disasters by the way, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>; + his arrival in the Huron country, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>; + his peril, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>; + returns to Quebec to commence a seminary, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>; + labors with success among the Hurons, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>; + slain by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>.<br/> + Dauversière, Jérôme le Royer de la, + described, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>; + hears a voice from heaven, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>; + has a vision, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>; + meets Olier, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>; + plans a religious community at Montreal, <i>ib.;</i> + one of the purchasers of the island, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>; + his misgivings, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.<br/> + Davost at Quebec, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, + <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>; + sets out on his journey to the Huron country, + <a href="#Page_53">53</a>; + robbed and left behind by his conductors, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>; + his arrival among the Hurons, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.<br/> + De Nouë, Anne, a missionary, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, + <a href="#Page_14">14</a>; + perishes in the snow, + <a href="#Page_257">257</a>-<a href="#Page_260">260</a>.<br/> + Des Châtelets, + an inhabitant of Quebec, + <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.<br/> + Devil, worshipped, <a href="#Page_lxxiv">lxxiv</a>, + <a href="#Page_lxxvi">lxxvi</a>, <a href="#Page_lxxvii">lxxvii</a>; + his supposed alarm at the success of the mission, + <a href="#Page_113">113</a>; + consequences, <a href="#Page_114">114</a> <i>seq.</i><br/> + <i>Dionondadies.</i> See <i>Tobacco Nation.</i> <br/> + Disease, how accounted for, + <a href="#Page_xl">xl</a>, <a href="#Page_xli">xli</a>; + how treated, <i>ib.</i> <br/> + Divination and sorcery, <a href="#Page_lxxxiv">lxxxiv</a>, + <a href="#Page_lxxxv">lxxxv</a>.<br/> + Dogs sacrificed to the Great Spirit, <a href="#Page_lxxxvi">lxxxvi</a>; + used at Montreal for sentinels, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>; + very useful, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.<br/> + <i>"Donnés"</i> of the mission, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>. <br/> + Dreams, confidence of the Indian in, <a href="#Page_lxxxiii">lxxxiii</a>, + <a href="#Page_lxxxiv">lxxxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_lxxxvi">lxxxvi</a>; + "Dream-Feast," a scene of frenzy, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.<br/> + Dress of the Indians, <a href="#Page_xxxii">xxxii</a>; + scarcely worn in summer, <a href="#Page_xxxiii">xxxiii</a>. <br/> + Druilletes, Gabriel, his labors among the Montagnais, + <a href="#Page_318">318</a>; + among the Abenaquis on the Kennebec, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, + <a href="#Page_323">323</a>; + visits English settlements in Maine, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>; + again descends the Kennebec, and visits Boston, + <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>; + object of the visit, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>; + visits Governor Dudley at Roxbury, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>; + and Governor Bradford at Plymouth, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>; + spends a night with Eliot at Roxbury, <i>ib.;</i> + visits Endicott at Salem, <i>ib.;</i> + his impressions of New England, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>; + failure of his embassy, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>. <br/> + Dudley, Thomas, governor of Massachusetts, + kindly receives the Jesuit Druilletes, + <a href="#Page_326">326</a>. <br/> + Du Peron, François, his narrow escape, + <a href="#Page_124">124</a>; + his journey, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>; + his arrival, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>; + his letter, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>; + at Montreal, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br/> + Du Quen, journeys of, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.<br/> + Dutch at Albany supply the Iroquois with fire-arms, + <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>; + endeavor to procure the release of prisoners among the Mohawks, + <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.<br/> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>E.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Eliot, John, the "apostle," has a visit from the Jesuit Druilletes, + <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.<br/> + Endicott, John, visited by the Jesuit Druilletes, + <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.<br/> + Enthusiasm for the mission, <a href="#Page_85">85</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Erie, Lake, how early known as such, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.<br/> + <i>Eries,</i> or Nation of the Cat, <a href="#Page_xlvi">xlvi</a>; + where found in the early periods, + <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_xlvi">xlvi</a>; + why so called, <a href="#Page_xlvi">xlvi</a> <i>note;</i> + war with the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>; + its cause, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>; + a sister's revenge, <i>ib.;</i> + utter destruction of the Eries, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>.<br/> + Etchemins, where found, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>.<br/> + Etienne Annaotaha, a Huron brave, + destroys an Iroquois war-party, + <a href="#Page_427">427</a>-<a href="#Page_429">429</a>; + slain, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>.<br/> + Exaltation, mental, of the priests, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.<br/> + Excursions, missionary, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.<br/> + <p><br/></p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">456</a></span> + </div> + <h3>F.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Faillon, Abbé, + his researches in the early history of Montreal, + <a href="#Page_193">193</a> <i>note;</i> + their value, <i>ib.</i> <br/> + Fancamp, Baron de, + furnishes money for the undertaking at Montreal, + <a href="#Page_193">193</a>; + one of the purchasers of the island, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.<br/> + Fasts among the Indians, <a href="#Page_lxxi">lxxi</a>.<br/> + "Feast of the Dead," <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.<br/> + Feasts of the Indians, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a>.<br/> + Female life among the Hurons, <a href="#Page_xxxiii">xxxiii</a>.<br/> + "<i>Festins d'adieu,</i>" <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.<br/> + Festivities of the Hurons, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a>.<br/> + Fire, Nation of, attacked by the Neutral Nation, + <a href="#Page_436">436</a>.<br/> + Fire-arms sold to the Iroquois by the Dutch, + <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>; + given to converts by the French, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.<br/> + Fish, and fishing-nets, prayers to them, + <a href="#Page_lxix">lxix</a>.<br/> + Fortifications of the Hurons, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>; + of the Iroquois, <i>ib. note;</i> + of other Indian tribes, <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a> <i>note.</i> <br/> + Fortitude, striking instances of, + <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, + <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>. <br/> + French and English colonization compared, + <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>.<br/> + Funeral among the Hurons, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + funeral gifts, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.<br/> + Fur trade, <a href="#Page_xlv">xlv</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, + <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>.<br/> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>G.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Gambling, Indian, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a>.<br/> + Garnier, Charles, joins the Huron mission, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>; + his sickness, <i>ib.;</i> + his character, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>; + his letters, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>; + his journey to the Tobacco Nation, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>; + at the Huron mission, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>; + slain by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>; + his body found, <a href="#Page_406">406</a> <i>note;</i> + his gentle spirit, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, + <a href="#Page_407">407</a>; + his absolute devotion to the mission, + <a href="#Page_407">407</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Garnier, Julien, <a href="#Page_liv">liv</a> <i>note.</i> <br /> + Garreau, missionary among the Hurons, his danger, + <a href="#Page_410">410</a>.<br/> + Gaspé, Algonquins of, their women chaste, + <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a>.<br/> + George, Lake, its first discoverer, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>; + its Indian name, <i>ib. note;</i> + called St. Sacrament, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>; + a better name proposed, <i>ib. note.</i><br /> + Gibbons, Edward, welcomes the Jesuit Druilletes to Boston, + <a href="#Page_325">325</a>.<br/> + Giffard, his seigniory of Beauport, + <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>; + at Quebec, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.<br/> + Gluttony at feasts, <a href="#Page_xxxviii">xxxviii</a>; + practised as a cure for pestilence, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.<br/> + Godefroy, Jean Paul, visits New Haven on an embassy + from the governor of Canada, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.<br/> + Goupil, René, a <i>donné</i> of the mission, + <a href="#Page_214">214</a>; + made prisoner by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>; + tortured, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>; + murdered in cold blood, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br/> + <i>Goyogouin,</i> a name for the Cayugas, + <a href="#Page_xlviii">xlviii</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Great Hare, The. See <i>Manabozho.</i><br /> + Green Bay, visited by the French in 1639, + <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.<br/> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>H.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Habitations, Indian, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a>; + internal aspect in summer, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>; + in winter, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>.<br/> + Hawenniio, the modern Iroquois name for God, + <a href="#Page_lxxviii">lxxviii</a>.<br /> + Hébert, Madame, an early resident of Quebec, + <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.<br/> + Hell, how represented to the Indians, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, + <a href="#Page_163">163</a>; + pictures of, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.<br/> + Hiawatha, a deified hero, <a href="#Page_lxxvii">lxxvii</a>, + <a href="#Page_lxxviii">lxxviii</a>.<br /> + <i>Hodenosaunee,</i> the true name of the Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_xlviii">xlviii</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Hôtel-Dieu at Quebec founded, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>; + one at Montreal, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br/> + Hundred Associates, the, a fur company, + its grants of land, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>; + their quit-claim of the island of Montreal, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>; + transfer their monopoly to the colonists, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>.<br/> + Hunters of men, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.<br/> + Huron mission proposed, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>; + the difficulties, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>; + motives for the undertaking, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>; + route to the Huron country, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>; + the missionaries baffled by a stroke of Indian diplomacy, + <a href="#Page_51">51</a>; + they commence their journey, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>; + fatigues of the way, <i>ib.;</i> + reception of the missionaries by the Hurons, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>; + mission house, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>; + methods taken to awaken interest, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>; + instructions given, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>; + the results not satisfactory, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>; + the Jesuits made responsible for the failure of rain, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>; + they gain the confidence of the Huron people, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>; + the mission strengthened by new arrivals, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>; + kindness of the Jesuits to the sick, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>; + their efforts at conversion, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>; + the Hurons slow to apprehend the subject of a future life, + <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; + terms of salvation too hard, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>; + an elastic morality practised by the Jesuits, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>; + conversions promoted by supernatural aid, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>; + the new chapel at Ossossané described, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; + first important success, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">457</a></span> + persecuting spirit aroused, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>; + the Jesuits in danger, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>; + their daily life, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>; + number of converts in 1638, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>; + backsliding frequent, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>; + partial success, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>; + great subsequent success of the mission, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>; + the mission encounters slander and misrepresentation, + <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>; + prosperity, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>; + successful agriculture, <i>ib.;</i> + number of ecclesiastics and others + in the Huron mission, 1649, <i>ib.;</i> + the mission removed to an island in Lake Huron, + <a href="#Page_397">397</a>; + a multitude of refugees, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>; + their extreme misery, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>; + the priests fully occupied, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>; + the mission abandoned, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>; + failure of the Jesuit plans in Canada, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>; + the cause, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>; + the consequences, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>. See <i>Jesuits.</i><br /> + <i>Hurons,</i> origin of the name, + <a href="#Page_xxxiii">xxxiii</a> <i>note;</i> + their country, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>, + <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>; + had a language akin to the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>; + their disappearance, <i>ib.;</i> + vestiges of them still found, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>; + supposed population, + <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a>; + their habitations, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a>, + <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a> <i>note;</i> + extravagant accounts, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a> <i>note;</i> + internal aspect of their huts in summer, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>; + in winter, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>; + their fortifications, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>; + their agriculture, <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a>; + food, <i>ib.;</i> + arts of life, <i>ib.;</i> + dress, <a href="#Page_xxxii">xxxii</a>; + dress scarcely worn in summer, <a href="#Page_xxxiii">xxxiii</a>; + female life, <i>ib.,</i> <a href="#Page_xxxv">xxxv</a>; + an unchaste people, <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a>; + marriages, temporary, <i>ib.;</i> + shameless conduct of young people, + <a href="#Page_xxxv">xxxv</a> <i>note;</i> + employments of the men, <a href="#Page_xxxvi">xxxvi</a>; + amusements, <i>ib.;</i> + feasts and dances, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a>; + voracity, <a href="#Page_xxxviii">xxxviii</a>; + cannibalism, <a href="#Page_xxxix">xxxix</a>; + practice of medicine, <a href="#Page_xl">xl</a>; + Huron brains, <a href="#Page_xliii">xliii</a>; + the Huron Confederacy, <a href="#Page_lii">lii</a>; + their political organization, <i>ib.;</i> + propensity of the Hurons to theft, + <a href="#Page_lxiii">lxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>; + murder atoned for by presents, <a href="#Page_lxi">lxi</a>; + proceedings in case of witchcraft, <a href="#Page_lxiii">lxiii</a>; + their objects of worship, <a href="#Page_lxix">lxix</a> <i>seq.;</i> + their conceptions of a future state, <a href="#Page_lxxxi">lxxxi</a>; + their burial of the dead, <i>ib.;</i> + hostility of the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, + <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>; + visit Quebec, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>; + the scene after their arrival described, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>; + their idea of thunder, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>; + Huron graves, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>; + their origin, <i>ib.;</i> + disposal of the dead, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>; + "Feast of the Dead," <a href="#Page_75">75</a> <i>seq.;</i> + disinterment, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>; + mourning, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>; + funeral gifts, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>; + frightful scene, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>; + a pestilence, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>; + cannibals, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>; + attacked by the Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>; + defeat them, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>; + torture and burn an Iroquois chief, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>; + on the verge of ruin, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>; + apply for help to the Andastes, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>; + specimen of Huron eloquence, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>; + Hurons defeat the Iroquois at Three Rivers, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>; + fatuity of the Hurons, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>; + their towns destroyed, <a href="#Page_379">379</a> <i>seq.;</i> + ruin of the Hurons, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>; + the survivors take refuge on Isle St. Joseph, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>; + their extreme misery, <a href="#Page_411">411</a> <i>seq.;</i> + they abandon the island, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>; + endeavor to reach Quebec, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>; + the Iroquois waylay them, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>; + a fight on the Ottawa, <i>ib.;</i> + they reach Montreal, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>; + and Quebec, <i>ib.;</i> + a Huron traitor, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>; + a portion of the Hurons retreat + to Lake Michigan and the Mississippi, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>; + others become incorporated with the Senecas, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>; + their country desolate, <i>ib.;</i> + afterwards known as the Wyandots, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>; + a body of the Hurons left + at St. Joseph destroy a party of Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_427">427</a>-<a href="#Page_429">429</a>; + a colony of Hurons near Quebec, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.<br/> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>I.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Ihonatiria, a Huron village, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>; + Brébeuf takes up his abode there, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + ruined by the pestilence, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.<br/> + Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.<br/> + Incarnation, Marie de l', at Tours, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>; + her unhappy marriage, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>; + a widow, <i>ib;</i> + self-inflicted austerities, <i>ib.;</i> + mystical espousal to Christ, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>; + rhapsodies, <i>ib.;</i> + dejection, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>; + abandons her child and becomes a nun, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>; + her talents for business, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>; + her vision, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>; + the vision explained as a call to Canada, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>; + embarks for that country, <i>ib.;</i> + perilous voyage, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>; + her arduous labors at Quebec, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>; + her difficulties, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>; + extolled as a saint, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, + <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.<br /> + Indian population mutable, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>; + its distribution, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>; + two great families, <i>ib.;</i> + superstitions and traditions, + <a href="#Page_lxvii">lxvii</a>-<a href="#Page_lxxxvii">lxxxvii</a>; + dreamers, <a href="#Page_lxxxiii">lxxxiii</a>; + sorcerers and diviners, + <a href="#Page_lxxxiv">lxxxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>; + their religion fearful yet puerile, + <a href="#Page_lxxxviii">lxxxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>; + an Indian lodge, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>; + Indian manners softened by the influence of the missions, + <a href="#Page_319">319</a>; + Indian infatuation, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.<br /> + Indians, their arts of life, <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a>; + amusements, <a href="#Page_xxxvi">xxxvi</a>; + festivals, <a href="#Page_xxxvii">xxxvii</a>; + social character, <a href="#Page_xlviii">xlviii</a>; + self-control, <a href="#Page_xlix">xlix</a>; + influenced by custom, <i>ib.;</i> + hospitality and generosity, <i>ib. note;</i> + fond of society, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>; + their division into clans, <a href="#Page_li">li</a>; + the <i>totem,</i> or symbol of the clan, <a href="#Page_39">39</a> <i>ib.;</i> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">458</a></span> + Indian rule of descent and inheritance, <i>ib.;</i> + vast extent of this rule, <a href="#Page_lii">lii</a>; + their superstitions, <a href="#Page_lxvii">lxvii</a> <i>et seq.;</i> + their cosmogonies, + <a href="#Page_lxxiii">lxxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_lxxv">lxxv</a>; + degrading conceptions of the Supreme Being, + <a href="#Page_lxxviii">lxxviii</a>; + no word for God, <a href="#Page_lxxix">lxxix</a>; + obliged to use a circumlocution, <i>ib.;</i> + their belief in a future state, <a href="#Page_lxxx">lxxx</a>; + their conceptions of it dim, <i>ib.;</i> + their belief in dreams, <a href="#Page_lxxxiii">lxxxiii</a>; + the Indian Pluto, <i>ib. note;</i> + the Indian mind stagnant, <a href="#Page_lxxxix">lxxxix</a>; + savage in religion as in life, <i>ib.;</i> + no knowledge of the true God, <i>ib.;</i> + scenes in a wigwam, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>; + their foul language, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>; + not profane, <i>ib.;</i> + hardships and sufferings, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>; + a specimen of their diplomacy, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>; + an Indian masquerade, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>; + Indian bacchanals, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>; + their idea of thunder, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>; + Indian mind not a blank, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>; + specimen of Indian reasoning, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>; + Indians received benefit from the Jesuit missions, + <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.<br /> + Initiatory fast for obtaining a guardian manitou, + <a href="#Page_lxxi">lxxi</a>.<br /> + "Infernal Wolf," the, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>; + a name for the Devil, <i>ib. note.</i><br /> + Influence of the missions salutary, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.<br /> + Instructions for the missionaries to the Hurons, + <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.<br /> + Intrepid conduct of the Jesuits, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.<br /> + <i>Iroquois,</i> or Five Nations, + origin of the name, <a href="#Page_xlvii">xlvii</a>; + where found in early times, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, + <a href="#Page_xlvi">xlvi</a>, + <a href="#Page_278">278</a> <i>note;</i> + their dwellings, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a> <i>note.,</i> + <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a> <i>note;</i> + a licentious people, <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a> <i>note;</i> + have capacious skulls, <a href="#Page_xliii">xliii</a> <i>note;</i> + burn female captives, <a href="#Page_xlv">xlv</a>; + their character, <a href="#Page_xlvii">xlvii</a>; + their eminent position and influence, <i>ib.;</i> + their true name, <a href="#Page_xlviii">xlviii</a> <i>note;</i> + divided into eight clans or families, <a href="#Page_lv">lv</a>; + symbols of these clans, <i>ib. note;</i> + the chiefs, how selected, <a href="#Page_lvi">lvi</a>; + the councils, <a href="#Page_lvii">lvii</a>; + how and when assembled, <a href="#Page_lviii">lviii</a>; + how conducted, <a href="#Page_lix">lix</a>; + their debates, <i>ib.;</i> + strict unanimity required, <i>ib.;</i> + artful management of the chiefs, <a href="#Page_lx">lx</a> <i>note;</i> + the professed orators, <a href="#Page_lxi">lxi</a>; + military organization, <a href="#Page_lxiv">lxiv</a>; + and discipline, <i>ib.;</i> + spirit of the confederacy, <a href="#Page_lxv">lxv</a>; + attachment to ancient forms, <i>ib.;</i> + their increase by adoption, <a href="#Page_lxvi">lxvi</a>; + population at different times, <i>ib. note;</i> + have no name for God, <a href="#Page_lxxviii">lxxviii</a>; + a captive Iroquois sacrificed by the Hurons to the god of war, + <a href="#Page_80">80</a>; + supplied by the Dutch with fire-arms, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>; + make war on the French in Canada, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, + <a href="#Page_269">269</a> <i>seq.;</i> + extreme cruelty to Jogues and other prisoners, + <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_222">222</a>, + <a href="#Page_228">228</a>; + cannibalism, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>; + audacity, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>; + attack Fort Richelieu, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>; + spread devastation and terror through Canada, + <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>; + horrible nature of their warfare, + <a href="#Page_246">246</a>-<a href="#Page_250">250</a>; + torments inflicted on prisoners, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a> <i>seq.,</i> + <a href="#Page_271">271</a>; + an Iroquois prisoner tortured by Algonquins, + <a href="#Page_277">277</a>; + treaty of peace with the French and Algonquins, + <a href="#Page_284">284</a> <i>seq.;</i> + numbers of the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_297">297</a> <i>note;</i> + the Iroquois determination to destroy the Hurons, + <a href="#Page_336">336</a>; + their moral superiority, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>; + a defeat sustained by them, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>; + their shameless treachery, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>; + invade the Huron country and destroy the towns, + <a href="#Page_379">379</a>; + their atrocious cruelty, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>; + their retreat, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>; + they pursue the remnants of the Huron nation, + <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>; + attack the Atticamegues, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>; + attack the Hurons at Michilimackinac, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>; + exterminate the Neutral Nation, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>; + exterminate the Eries, + <a href="#Page_438">438</a>-<a href="#Page_440">440</a>; + terrible cruelty, <a href="#Page_441">441</a> <i>note;</i> + their bloody supremacy, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>; + it cost them dear, <i>ib.;</i> + tyrants of a wide wilderness, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>; + their short-sighted policy, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>.<br /> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>J.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Jesuits, their founder, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>; + their discipline, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>; + their influence, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>; + salutary, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>; + the early Canadian Jesuits + did not meddle with political affairs, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>; + denounced cannibalism, but faint in opposing the burning + of prisoners, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>; + were engaged in the fur-trade, + <a href="#Page_365">365</a> <i>note;</i> + purity of their motives, + <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>; + benevolent care of the sick, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, + <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>; + accused of sorcery, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>; + in great peril, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>; + their intrepidity, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>; + their prudence, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>; + their intense zeal, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>. + See <i>Huron Mission.</i><br /> + Jogues, Isaac, his birth and character, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>; + joins the mission, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>; + his illness, <i>ib.;</i> + his character, + <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>; + his journey to the Tobacco Nation, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>; + visits Lake Superior and preaches to the Ojibwas, + <a href="#Page_213">213</a>; + visits Quebec, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>; + taken prisoner by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>; + tortured by them, + <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, + <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>; + in daily expectation of death, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, + <a href="#Page_225">225</a>; + his conscientiousness, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, + <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>; + his patience, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>; + his spirit of devotion, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>; + longs for death, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>; + his pious labors while a captive, <i>ib.;</i> + visits Albany, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>; + writes to the commandant at + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">459</a></span> + Three Rivers, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>; + escapes, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>; + voyage across the Atlantic, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>; + reception in France, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>; + the queen honors him, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>; + returns to Canada, + <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>; + his mission to the Mohawks, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>; + misgivings, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>; + has a presentiment of death, <i>ib.;</i> + goes as a civilian, <i>ib;</i> + visits Fort Orange, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>; + reaches the Mohawk country, <i>ib.;</i> + his reception, <i>ib.;</i> + returns to Canada, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>; + his second mission to the Mohawks, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>; + warned of danger, <i>ib.;</i> + his cruel murder, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.<br /> + Joseph, Saint, his interposition in a case of childbirth, + <a href="#Page_90">90</a>; + his help much relied on by the Jesuits, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, + <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>; + fireworks let off in his honor, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>. + See <i>Saint Joseph.</i><br /> + <i>Jouskeha,</i> a beneficent deity, the sun, + the creator, <a href="#Page_lxxvi">lxxvi</a>, + <a href="#Page_lxxix">lxxix</a>.<br /> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>K.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Kennebec, visited by a Jesuit, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>.<br /> + Kieft, William, governor of New Netherland, + his kindness to Jogues, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>; + his letter to the governor of Canada, + <a href="#Page_304">304</a> <i>note.</i> <br /> + Kiotsaton, envoy of the Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_284">284</a> <i>seq.;</i> + his speech, <a href="#Page_287">287</a> <i>seq.;</i> + the French delighted with him, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>; + another speech, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.<br /> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>L.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Lafitau, his book on the Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_liv">liv</a> <i>note;</i> + describes the council of the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_lvii">lvii</a>, + <a href="#Page_lviii">lviii</a>.<br /> + Lalande, an assistant in the mission, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>; + tortured by the Mohawks, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>; + killed by them, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.<br /> + Lalemant, Gabriel, at the Huron mission, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, + <a href="#Page_371">371</a>; + taken by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>; + tortured with fire, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>; + his death, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>.<br /> + Lalemant, Jerome, brother of Gabriel, + assailed by an Algonquin, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>; + visits Three Rivers, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>; + becomes Superior of the missions, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.<br /> + Lauson, president of the Canada Fur Company, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>; + sells the island of Montreal to the Jesuits, + <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.<br /> + Le Berger, a Christian Iroquois, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>; + endeavors to save Jogues, <i>ib.</i><br /> + Le Borgne, chief of Allumette Island, + hinders the departure of the missionaries, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>; + his motives, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>; + converted, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.<br /> + Le Jeune, Paul, Father Superior, his voyage, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>; + his arrival in Quebec, + <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>; + begins his labors there, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>; + joins an Indian hunting-party, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>; + adventures in this connection, + <a href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a href="#Page_39">39</a>; + his description of a winter scene, + <a href="#Page_26">26</a> <i>note;</i> + grievances in an Indian lodge in winter, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>; + experience with a sorcerer, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>; + suffers the rude banter of the Indians, <i>ib.;</i> + doubts whether the Indian sorcerers are impostors + or in league with the devil, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>; + relates what he had been informed + of the devil's proceedings in Brazil, + <a href="#Page_33">33</a> <i>note;</i> + attempts to convert a sorcerer, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>; + disappointment, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>; + returns to Quebec, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>; + rejoices at the advent of the new governor, + <a href="#Page_150">150</a> <i>note;</i> + rejoices at the interest in the mission awakened in France, + <a href="#Page_151">151</a>; + has for a correspondent the future Condé, + <a href="#Page_152">152</a>; + is invested with civil authority, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>; + sends for pictures of the torments of hell, + <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.<br /> + Le Mercier, Francis Joseph, joins the mission, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>; + his peril, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.<br /> + Le Moyne, among the Hurons, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>; + among the Onondagas, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, + <a href="#Page_440">440</a>.<br /> + Licentiousness of the Indians, + <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a> <i>note;</i> + <a href="#Page_xxxv">xxxv</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_xlv">xlv</a>.<br /> + Life in a wigwam, + <a href="#Page_27">27</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>.<br /> + Loretto, in Italy, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, + <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>; + Old Lorette, in Canada, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>; + New Lorette, in Canada, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>; + settlement of Hurons there, <i>ib.</i> <br /> + Loyola, Ignatius, his story, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>; + founds the order of Jesuits, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>; + his book of Spiritual Exercises, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.<br /> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>M.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Maisonneuve, Chomedey, Sieur de, + military leader of the settlement at Montreal, + <a href="#Page_196">196</a>; + spends the first winter at Quebec, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>; + poorly accommodated there, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>; + has a quarrel with the governor, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>; + beloved by his followers, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>; + compared to Godfrey, the leader of the first crusade, + <a href="#Page_207">207</a>; + lands at Montreal, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, + <a href="#Page_261">261</a>; + plants a cross on the top of the mountain, + <a href="#Page_263">263</a>; + his great bravery, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.<br /> + <i>Manabozho,</i> a mythical personage, + <a href="#Page_lxviii">lxviii</a>; + the chief deity of the Algonquins, yet not worshipped, + <a href="#Page_lxxii">lxxii</a>, <a href="#Page_lxxix">lxxix</a>; + his achievements, <a href="#Page_lxxiii">lxxiii</a>.<br /> + Mance, Jeanne, devotes herself to the mission in Canada, + <a href="#Page_198">198</a>; + embarks, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>; + impressive scene before embarking, <i>ib.;</i> + lands at Montreal, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, + <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.<br /> + <i>Manitous,</i> a generic term for super-natural beings, + <a href="#Page_lxix">lxix</a>; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">460</a></span> + extensive in its meaning, <a href="#Page_lxx">lxx</a>; + process for obtaining a guardian manitou, <i>ib.</i><br /> + Marie, a Christian Algonquin, her adventures and sufferings, + <a href="#Page_309">309</a>-<a href="#Page_313">313</a>.<br /> + Marriage among the Hurons often temporary and experimental, + <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a>.<br /> + Mass, neglect of the, a punishable offence, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, + <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.<br /> + Masse, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>; + "le Père Utile," <i>ib.;</i> + his death, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.<br /> + Medical practice among the Indians, <a href="#Page_xli">xli</a>, + <a href="#Page_xlii">xlii</a> <i>note;</i> + <a href="#Page_lxxxiv">lxxxiv</a>, + <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.<br /> + "Medicine," or Indian charms, <a href="#Page_lxxi">lxxi</a>.<br /> + "Medicine-bags," <a href="#Page_lxxi">lxxi</a>; + "medicine-men," or sorcerers, <a href="#Page_lxxxiv">lxxxiv</a>, + <a href="#Page_lxxxv">lxxxv</a>, + <a href="#Page_32">32</a>-<a href="#Page_38">38</a>; + a "medicine-feast," <a href="#Page_66">66</a>; + the religion taught by the Jesuits supposed to be a "medicine," + <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.<br /> + Megapolensis, Dutch pastor at Albany, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>; + his account of the Mohawks, <i>ib.;</i> + befriends Jogues, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.<br /> + Memory, devices for aiding the, + <a href="#Page_lxi">lxi</a>.<br /> + <i>Messou.</i> See <i>Manabozho.</i><br /> + Mestigoit, an Indian hunter, + <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, + <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; + his skill and courage, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>; + helps Le Jeune to reach Quebec, <i>ib.</i><br /> + Mexican fabrics found in Indian cemeteries, + <a href="#Page_79">79</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Miamis, cannibalism among them, <a href="#Page_xl">xl</a>.<br /> + <i>Michabou.</i> See <i>Manabozho.</i><br /> + Micmacs in Nova Scotia, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>.<br /> + Minquas. See <i>Andastes.</i><br /> + Miracles in the Huron mission, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>; + how to be accounted for, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>; + why miracles were expected, + <a href="#Page_210">210</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Miscou, mission at, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>.<br /> + Mission to Hurons. See <i>Huron Mission.</i><br /> + Mission-house near Quebec described, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.<br /> + Mohawks, <a href="#Page_xlviii">xlviii</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_liv">liv</a>; + number of warriors, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, + <a href="#Page_297">297</a>; + their towns, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>; + make peace with the French, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>; + credulity and superstition, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>; + their causeless rage, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>; + renew the war with the French, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>; + their perfidy, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>; + cruelty, <i>ib.;</i> + torture of prisoners, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>; + invade the Huron country, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>; + furious battle near St. Marie, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>; + war with the Andastes, <a href="#Page_441">441</a>; + and Mohicans, <i>ib. note.</i> + See <i>Iroquois.</i><br /> + Montmagny, Charles Huault de, + succeeds Champlain as governor of New France, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>; + his zeal for the mission, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, + <a href="#Page_161">161</a>; + meets the Ursulines at their landing, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>; + quarrels with the leader of the Montreal settlement, + <a href="#Page_204">204</a>; + delivers Montreal to Maisonneuve, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>; + builds a fort at Sorel, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>; + called Onontio by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>; + negotiates a peace with the Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_284">284</a> <i>seq.</i><br /> + Montagnais, an Algonquin tribe, where found, + <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>; + their degradation, <i>ib.;</i> + Le Jeune essays their conversion, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>; + concerned in a treaty of peace, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, + <a href="#Page_293">293</a>; + salutary changes from the influence of the mission, + <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.<br /> + Montreal, island of, + purchased for the site of a religious community, + <a href="#Page_195">195</a>; + part of the money given by ladies, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>; + consecrated to the Holy Family, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>; + the enterprise compared with the crusades, + <a href="#Page_207">207</a>; + first day of the settlement, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>; + motives of the enterprise, + as stated by the leaders themselves, + <a href="#Page_210">210</a> <i>note;</i> + infancy of the settlement, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>; + rise of the St. Lawrence checked by a wooden cross, + <a href="#Page_263">263</a>; + arrival of D'Ailleboust and others, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>; + pilgrimages, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>; + hospital built, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>; + Indians fed, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>; + attacks by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_269">269</a> <i>seq.;</i> + sally of the French, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>; + condition of Montreal in 1651, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.<br /> + Moon, the, worshipped, <a href="#Page_lxxvi">lxxvi</a>.<br /> + Morgan, Lewis H., his account of the Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_liv">liv</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Murder atoned for by presents, <a href="#Page_lxi">lxi</a>, + <a href="#Page_lxii">lxii</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>; + a grand ceremony of this sort, + <a href="#Page_355">355</a> <i>seq.</i> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>N.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Nanabush.</i> See <i>Manabozho.</i><br /> + Nation of the Bear, <a href="#Page_liii">liii</a>.<br /> + Nation of Fire, an Algonquin people, + attacked by the Neutral Nation, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>.<br /> + <i>Neutral Nation,</i> their country, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, + <a href="#Page_xliv">xliv</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + their cruelty and licentiousness, <a href="#Page_xlv">xlv</a>; + representations made to them respecting the French, + <a href="#Page_xlvi">xlvi</a> <i>note;</i> + a ferocious people, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>; + their excessive superstition, <i>ib.;</i> + a mission among them attempted, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + but in vain, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>; + kindness of a Neutral woman, <i>ib.;</i> + destroy a large town of the Nation of Fire, + <a href="#Page_436">436</a>; + their ferocious cruelty, <i>ib. note;</i> + themselves exterminated by the Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_437">437</a>.<br /> + New England, Indians in, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>; + a Jesuit's impressions of, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.<br /> + Niagara, called the River of the Neutrals, <a href="#Page_xliv">xliv</a>; + described by the Jesuits, + <a href="#Page_143">143</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Nicollet, Jean, visits Green Bay in 1639, + <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.<br /> + Nipissings, <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>.<br /> + Notre-Dame des Anges, at Quebec, + <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>; + Notre-Dame de Montreal, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.<br /> + <p><br/></p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">461</a></span> + </div> + <h3>O.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Ochateguins.</i> See <i>Hurons.</i><br /> + <i>Ojibwas,</i> how differing in language from Algonquins, + <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>; + visited by Jogues, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.<br /> + <i>Okies,</i> or <i>Otkons,</i> + objects of worship among the Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_lxix">lxix</a>.<br /> + Olier, Jean Jacques, Abbé, + suspected of Jansenism, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>; + has a revelation, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>; + meets Dauversière, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>; + their schemes, <i>ib.</i><br /> + Oneidas, or <i>Onneyut,</i> + one of the Five Nations, + <a href="#Page_xlviii">xlviii</a> <i>note</i>, + <a href="#Page_liv">liv</a>. + See <i>Iroquois.</i><br /> + Onondagas, or Onnontagué, + one of the Five Nations, + <a href="#Page_xlviii">xlviii</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_liv">liv</a> + (see <i>Iroquois</i>); + their inroad on the Hurons, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>; + their jealousy of the Mohawks, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>; + their embassy to the Hurons, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>; + suicide of the ambassador, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>.<br /> + Ononkwaya, an Oneida chief, + a prisoner to the Hurons, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>; + his marvellous fortitude under torture, + <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.<br /> + <i>Onontio,</i> Great Mountain, + name given to the Governor of Canada + among the Iroquois, and why, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.<br /> + Ontitarac, a Huron chief, his speech, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + Orators of the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_lx">lx</a>.<br /> + Ossossané, chief town of the Hurons, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>; + great Huron cemetery there, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + mission established there, + <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>; + abandoned, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.<br /> + Ouendats, or Wyandots. See <i>Hurons.</i> <br /> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>P.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Parker, Ely S., an educated Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_liv">liv</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Passionists, convent of, a singular incident there, + <a href="#Page_108">108</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Peace concluded between the French and Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_284">284</a>-<a href="#Page_295">295</a>; + defects of the treaty, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>; + the peace broken and why, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>.<br /> + Peltrie, de la, Madame, her birth, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>; + her girlhood, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>; + a widow, <i>ib.;</i> + religious schemes, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>; + resolves to go to Canada, <i>ib.;</i> + her sham marriage, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>; + visits the Ursuline Convent at Tours, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>; + results of that visit, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>; + embarks for Canada, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>; + perilous voyage, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>; + her character, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>; + thirst for admiration, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>; + leaves the Ursulines and joins the Colony of Montreal, + <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>; + receives the sacrament on the top of the mountain, + <a href="#Page_264">264</a>; + at Quebec, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.<br /> + Penobscot, a station on it of Capuchin friars, + <a href="#Page_322">322</a>.<br /> + Pestilence among the Hurons, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>; + its supposed origin, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.<br /> + Persecution of the Jesuits, <a href="#Page_116">116</a> <i>seq.</i><br /> + Pictures requested for the mission, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>; + of souls in perdition, many, <i>ib.;</i> + of souls in bliss, one, <i>ib.;</i> + how to be colored, <i>ib.;</i> + Le Jeune describes the pictures of Hell which he wants, + <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.<br /> + Picture-writing by the Indians, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.<br /> + Pierre, an Algonquin, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>; + teacher of Le Jeune, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>; + runs away, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>; + returns, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; + frantic from strong drink, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>; + repents and assists Le Jeune, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>; + another of this name, a converted Huron, + <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.<br /> + Pijart, Pierre, joins the mission, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>; + his clandestine baptisms, + <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>; + establishes a mission at Ossossané, + <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.<br /> + Piskaret, an Algonquin brave, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>; + his exploits, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>; + his successes against the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>; + assists in a treaty of peace, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>; + murdered by Mohawks, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.<br /> + Poncet, father, his pilgrimage to Loretto, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>; + embarks for Canada, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>; + his peril, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.<br /> + Price of a man's life, <a href="#Page_lxii">lxii</a>; + of a woman's, <i>ib.</i> <br /> + Prisoners, cruel treatment of, + <a href="#Page_xxxix">xxxix</a>, <a href="#Page_xlv">xlv</a>, + <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a> <i>seq.,</i> + <a href="#Page_248">248</a> <i>seq.,</i> + <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, + <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a> <i>seq.,</i> + <a href="#Page_436">436</a> <i>note,</i> <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, + <a href="#Page_441">441</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Processions, religious, at Quebec, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>Q.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Quatogies.</i> See <i>Hurons.</i><br /> + Qualifications for success in an Indian mission, + <a href="#Page_134">134</a> <i>note.</i> <br /> + Quebec in 1634, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>; + its first settler, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; + condition in 1640, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>; + its aspect half military, half monastic, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>; + its very amusements acts of religion, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>; + state of things in 1651, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>; + New-Year's Day, 1646, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.<br /> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>R.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Ragueneau, Paul, + missionary among the Hurons, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, + <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>; + relates proceedings of a council held respecting a murder, + <a href="#Page_355">355</a>; + Father Superior, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>.<br /> + Raymbault, Charles, enters Lake Superior with Jogues, + <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">462</a></span> + Religion and superstitions of the Indians, + <a href="#Page_lxvii">lxvii</a> <i>et seq.;</i> + worship of material objects, + inanimate no less than animate, <i>ib.;</i> + the Indians attribute their origin to beasts, + birds, and reptiles, <a href="#Page_lxviii">lxviii</a>; + all nature full of objects of religious fear and dread, + <a href="#Page_lxxxiv">lxxxiv</a>; + sacrifices, <a href="#Page_lxxxvi">lxxxvi</a>.<br /> + Remarkable instance of Indian forgiveness, + <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.<br /> + Rome, Church of, her strange contradictions, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>; + self-denial of her missionaries, <i>ib.</i> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>S.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Sacrifice, a human, by fire, witnessed by a missionary, + <a href="#Page_80">80</a> <i>seq.</i><br /> + Sacrifices of the Indians, <a href="#Page_lxxxv">lxxxv</a>, + <a href="#Page_lxxxvi">lxxxvi</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + St. Bernard, Marie de, a nun at Tours, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>; + embarks for Canada, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /> + St. Ignace, town, taken by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>; + furious battle with the Hurons, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>; + the town and its inhabitants destroyed by fire, + <a href="#Page_385">385</a>; + vestiges still remaining, <i>ib. note.</i><br /> + St. Jean, town in the Tobacco Nation, attacked by the Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_405">405</a>; + destroyed by fire, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>.<br /> + St. Joseph, a town in the Huron country, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, + <a href="#Page_374">374</a>; + surprised by the Iroquois, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>; + and destroyed, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>; + another station of this name on an island, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>; + the Huron refugees repair thither, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>; + their extreme misery, <i>ib.;</i> famine, + <a href="#Page_400">400</a>.<br /> + St. Louis, town in the Huron country, attacked, + <a href="#Page_380">380</a>; + severe struggle, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>; + destroyed by the Iroquois, <i>ib.</i><br /> + Ste. Marie, in the Huron country, + a mission established there, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>; + the place described, <a href="#Page_362">362</a> <i>seq.;</i> + a bountiful hospitality exercised + towards the converts and others, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>; + alarm and anxiety at the Iroquois invasion, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>; + the station abandoned, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>; + stripped of all valuables, and set on fire, + <a href="#Page_396">396</a>.<br /> + Schoolcraft, Henry R., his Notes on the Iroquois, + <a href="#Page_liv">liv</a> <i>note;</i> + his mistakes, <a href="#Page_lxxviii">lxxviii</a>, + <a href="#Page_lxxx">lxxx</a>; + his collection of Algonquin tales, + <a href="#Page_lxxxviii">lxxxviii</a>; + his unsatisfactory speculations about Huron graves, + <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.<br /> + Seminary, Huron, at Quebec, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.<br /> + Senecas, one of the Five Nations, + <a href="#Page_xlviii">xlviii</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_liv">liv</a>. + See <i>Iroquois.</i><br /> + Sepulture among the Hurons, <a href="#Page_lxxxi">lxxxi</a>, + <a href="#Page_71">71</a> <i>seq.</i><br /> + Sillery, Noël Brulart de, becomes a priest, + <a href="#Page_182">182</a>; + founds the settlement which bears his name, + <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.<br /> + Sioux punish adultery, <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a>; + harass the Hurons, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>.<br /> + Sorcerer, a dwarfish, deformed one, troubles the Jesuits, + <a href="#Page_91">91</a>; + his account of his origin, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>; + sorcerers, several, in time of mortal sickness, + <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.<br /> + Sorcery, as practised among the Indians, + <a href="#Page_lxxxiv">lxxxiv</a>, + <a href="#Page_32">32</a>-<a href="#Page_38">38</a>.<br /> + Speech-making, Indian, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, + <a href="#Page_292">292</a>-<a href="#Page_294">294</a>.<br /> + Sun worshipped, <a href="#Page_lxxvi">lxxvi</a>.<br /> + Supernaturalism of the Jesuits, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>; + supposed efficacy of relics and prayers + to relieve pain and cure disease, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>; + conversions effected in this manner, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>; + such views still entertained, + as illustrated in a curious incident, <i>ib.</i> <br /> + Superstitions of the Indians, <a href="#Page_lxvii">lxvii</a> <i>seq.,</i> + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.<br /> + Superstitious terrors, <a href="#Page_lxxxiv">lxxxiv</a>, + <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> + Susquehannocks. See <i>Andastes.</i><br /> + Swedish colonists on the Delaware assist the Andastes, + <a href="#Page_442">442</a>.<br /> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>T.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <i>Tarenyowagon,</i> a powerful deity, + <a href="#Page_lxxvii">lxxvii</a>.<br /> + <i>Tarratines,</i> the Abenaquis so called, + <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Tattooing practised, <a href="#Page_xxxiii">xxxiii</a>; + a severe process, <i>ib.</i><br /> + <i>Teanaustayé,</i> <a href="#Page_137">137</a>. + See <i>St. Joseph.</i><br /> + Tessouat, or Le Borgne, converted, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.<br /> + Tionnontates. See <i>Tobacco Nation.</i><br /> + Tobacco Nation, or Tionnontates, + in league with the Hurons, <a href="#Page_xliii">xliii</a>; + raised tobacco, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>; + mission among them, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>; + reception of the missionaries, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>; + perils of the missionaries, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + some of the Hurons seek an asylum there, + <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>.<br /> + Tobacco, none in Heaven, a sad thought to the Indian, + <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.<br /> + <i>Totems,</i> emblems of clans, <a href="#Page_li">li</a>, + <a href="#Page_lxviii">lxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>.<br /> + Trade in furs, <a href="#Page_xlv">xlv</a>, + <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> + Traffic of the Indians, how conducted, + <a href="#Page_xxxvi">xxxvi</a>.<br /> + Treatment of women, <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a>, + <a href="#Page_xxxv">xxxv</a>; + of prisoners, <a href="#Page_xxxix">xxxix</a>, + <a href="#Page_xlv">xlv</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, + <a href="#Page_216">216</a> <i>seq.,</i> + <a href="#Page_248">248</a> <i>seq.,</i> + <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, + <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, + <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, + <a href="#Page_441">441</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Tuscaroras, in Carolina, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>; + unite with the Five Nations, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>, + <a href="#Page_lxvi">lxvi</a>.<br /> + <p><br/></p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">463</a></span> + </div> + <h3>U.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Unchastity of the Indians, <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a> <i>note,</i> + <a href="#Page_xlv">xlv</a>.<br /> + Ursulines at Tours, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>; + at Quebec, their labors, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>; + their instructions, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>V.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Villemarie de Montreal, a three-fold religious establishment, + <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.<br/> + Vimont, father, embarks for Canada, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>; + makes a vow to Saint Joseph, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>; + visits Montreal, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>; + Superior of the Canadian Mission, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>; + assists in a treaty of peace, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.<br/> + Visions and visitations from Heaven and from Hell + frequent occurrences in the lives of the missionaries, + <a href="#Page_108">108</a>; + the subject illustrated by a curious incident, <i>ib. note.</i> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + <h3>W.</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Wampum, its material and uses, <a href="#Page_xxxi">xxxi</a>; + served the purpose of records, + <a href="#Page_xxxii">xxxii</a>, <a href="#Page_lxi">lxi</a>.<br /> + War-dance, often practised for amusement, + <a href="#Page_xxxix">xxxix</a>.<br /> + Wigwam, how built, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>; + inconveniences in one, + <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.<br /> + Winnebagoes, their residence when first known to Europeans, + <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>; + known to the Jesuits in 1648, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>.<br /> + Winslow, John, + kindly receives the Jesuit Druilletes at Augusta, + <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>; + his name in the <i>Relations,</i> how spelled, + <a href="#Page_323">323</a> <i>note.</i><br /> + Winter in Canada, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, + <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.<br /> + Witchcraft, proceedings in case of, <a href="#Page_lxiii">lxiii</a>.<br /> + Women, their condition, + <a href="#Page_xxxiii">xxxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxxiv">xxxiv</a>, + <a href="#Page_xxxv">xxxv</a>, <a href="#Page_xlv">xiv</a>.<br /> + Wyandots, a remnant of the Hurons, + <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>. + See <i>Hurons.</i> + <p><br/></p> + <p class="center smcap noindent">The End.</p> + <p><br/></p> + </div> + + + + + + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /> + <a name="parkman" id="parkman"></a> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2><a href="#Contents35">Francis Parkman</a></h2> +</div> + +<p><br /></p> +<h3>France and England in North America</h3> +<ol> +<li><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3721"> + Pioneers of France in the New World</a> (1865, 1885)</li> +<li><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6933"> + The Jesuits in North America in the seventeenth century</a> (1867)</li> +<li><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9997"> + The Discovery of the West</a> (1869) <br /> + <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40143"> + La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West</a> (1879)</li> +<li><span class="smcap">The Old Régime in Canada</span> + (1874, 1894)</li> +<li><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6875"> + Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV.</a> (1877)</li> +<li>A Half Century of Conflict (1892)<br /> + <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24457"> + Volume 1</a><br /> + <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7064"> + Volume 2</a> </li> +<li><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14517"> + Montcalm and Wolfe </a> (1884)</li> +</ol> + +<p> +The year that each book was published is printed and enclosed by parenthesis +after the title of each volume. In some cases, there are two years in +parenthesis. These indicate that a volume with major revisions was +published. +</p> +<p> +The revised version of <i>Pioneers of France </i> contains new descriptions +of Florida and some changes to the section on Samuel Champlain. Parkman +revised <i>Discovery of the West</i> after obtaining access to Margry's +collection. The revised version of <i>The Old Régime</i> includes +three new chapters regarding La Tour and D'Aunay. +</p> +<p> +Volume 3 was not only revised, but the title was altered. Parkman first +released Volume 3 as <i>The Discovery of the West.</i> His updated version of +Volume 3 was entitled <i>La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West.</i> +</p> + +<h3>Other Principal Works</h3> +<ul> +<li><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1015"> + The Oregon Trail</a> (1849)</li> +<li><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39253"> + The Conspiracy of Pontiac</a> (1851)</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="main" /> +<div class="chapterhead"> + <br /> + <a name="Appendix" id="Appendix"></a> + <br /><br /><br /> + <h2><a href="#Contents36">Appendix</a></h2> + <p><br /></p> + <h3>Transcription notes:</h3> +</div> + +<p id="id01404"> +This book was originally transcribed from Volume 20. While making a batch +of corrections, a decision was made to base this etext on Volume 1 for three +reasons: 1) Parkman's subsequent revisions were virtually insignificant; +2) Volume 1, released in 1867, is available at the New York Public Library +through Hathitrust, and thus, can readily be consulted for future claims +of errata, and 3) In the Notes on the Texts prepared for the The Library +of America reprint (1983), David Levin opined that using Volume 1 for this +title was the best choice to approximate Parkman's own conception of +<i>France and England in North America</i>. </p> +<p> +In resolving errors and questions that came up during transcription, +Parkman's Seventh volume of <i>The Jesuits in North America</i> from 1872 was +consulted (from the Library of Congress, available through Hathitrust), +as well as the aforementioned The Library of America edition of this work. +When these notes refer to a mistake in <em>all the volumes,</em> they +refer to Volumes 1, 7, and 20. These volumes were produced during Parkman's +lifetime, and assume that changes met with Parkman's approval. +</p> + +<p id="id01405"> +The 8-bit version of this etext, with accented French characters, +is produced using Windows Code Page 1252. Most of the accented +characters will also display correctly if you view the text using +any of the ISO 8859 character sets. However, the "oe" +ligature--œ--will only display correctly if using Windows +1252.</p> + +<p id="id01406"> +The footnotes have been produced using the <span class="smcap">Project +Gutenberg</span>™ standard. Footnotes follow the paragraph in +which they were mentioned. Footnotes have been set in smaller print +and have larger margins than regular text. Footnotes are numbered +sequentially and the numbers are reset after each change in chapter. +There are a total of 548 footnotes in this book. Please note that +we have made no emendations to the content of footnotes to preserve +the antiquated orthography and accentuation of the contents.</p> + +<p id="id01407"> +This text generally preserved the italicization of <i>words, phrases, and +the titles of references</i> which are presented in <i>italics</i> in the +printed book. The standard of the book is to use italics when citing +<i>Relations, 1650</i>; and not to use them when writing <i>Relations</i> +of 1650. There were some cases that did not observe the standard: +they were treated as errata, and changed. +<span class="smcap">Small capitalization</span> has also been +retained--used primarily for the first word of each chapter. </p> + +<p id="id01408"> +Detailed notes describe problems or issues in transcribing a specific +portion of the text: the reconciliation of variances between the topics +list in the contents and the topics list preceeding each chapter; other +modifications applied while transcribing the printed book to an e-text; +emendations; and other issues in transcribing the text. <br/> +</p> + +<p>You will see +<ins title="a short message, such as the original text, will appear here."> +changed text</ins> underlined by dotted silver lines. In some versions +(like the HTML version) of this document, you can hover your cursor over the +changed text and see details in a small box. Those details are repeated, and +sometimes elaborated upon, in the Detailed Notes Section of this +<i>Appendix</i>.</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h3>Detailed Notes Section:</h3> + + + +<div class="notes"> +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01410"> Contents</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • Chapter 5: Capitalize Thwarted and Begun in the topics list.<br /> + • Chapter 16: Capitalize Tortured in the topics list. <br /> + • Chapter 19: Capitalize Confirmed in the topics list. <br /> + • Chapter 26: Capitalize Destroyed in the topics list. <br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01411"> Introduction:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_xix">Page xix</a>, + add Indian before "Social and Political Organization" + to match topics list in Table of Contents.<br /> + • <a href="#Page_xxxv">Page xxxv</a>, + in <a href="#footer_0-18">footnote 0-18</a>, the word "come" is printed + with a straight line over the "o," not only in Volume 1, but also in + Volume 7. The Library of America version of the book assumes that the + line resulted from an imperfection in the plates. The assumption is not + only reasonable but practical, and it is adopted here, too. <br /> + • <a href="#Page_xlviii">Page xlviii</a>, + place period after the clause "which they had so promptly assented" + This period was also missing in Volume 7.<br /> + • On <a href="#Page_li">Page li</a>, + Parkman added the qualifier "in most cases" to the clause "The child belongs + to the clan," in the eighth volume of this title. The new clause is, + "The child belongs, in most cases, to the clan," + <br /> + • On <a href="#Page_lii">Page lii</a>, Parkman used the less precise + "usually belonging to it" instead of "inseparable from it" in the eighth + volume of this title. The new sentence reads, "This system of clanship, + with the rule of descent usually belonging to it, was of very wide + prevalence."<br /> + • On <a href="#Page_lxv">Page lxv</a>, Un doubtedly is not hyphenated + and split between two lines as if two words, not just in Volume 1, but in + Volume 7. There should have been a hyphen after Un-. The clause was + transcribed: "Undoubtedly there was a distinct and definite effort of + legislation;" +</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01412"> Chapter 3:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • Changed "Mission-house" to "Mission-House" in topics list + beginning Chapter 3 to match topics list for Chapter 3 in the Contents. + <br /> + • <a href="#Page_18">Page 18</a>: <a href="#footer_3-3">footnote + 3-3</a> does not end the last sentence with a period: "et sa bonté + n'a point de limites" The period was also missing in Volume 7. We did not + make an emendation because of Parkman's statement in the Preface. <br /> + • <a href="#Page_21">Page 21</a>: add period to end the sentence with + the clause "sorcerer, in the tribe of the Montagnais" The period was + added in Volume 7. +</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01413"> Chapter 4:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_24">Page 24</a>: In + <a href="#footer_4-1">footnote 4-1</a>, add beginning quote before Iamais: + "Iamais il ne fut ..."<br /> + • <a href="#Page_26">Page 26</a>: In + <a href="#footer_4-2">footnote 4-2</a>, text is missing a period after + ceinture, in all volumes. This was not changed, as it was in the footnote. + <br /> + • <a href="#Page_30">Page 30</a>-<a href="#Page_31">Page 31</a>: + Confirmed the spelling of "fumeé" and "fumée;" in + <a href="#footer_4-5">footnote 4-5</a>.<br /> + • <a href="#Page_31">Page 31</a>: Confirmed the spelling of "mais" in + <a href="#footer_4-6">footnote 4-6</a>.<br /> + • <a href="#Page_31">Page 31</a>: Confirmed the apostrophe in + "qu'à" in <a href="#footer_4-6">footnote 4-6</a>.<br /> + • <a href="#Page_33">Page 33</a>: + In <a href="#footer_4-8">footnote 4-8</a>: the correct word is "laisse," + but "laiss" remains unchanged in accordance with Parkman's statement + in the preface.<br /> + • <a href="#Page_37">Page 37</a>: + <a href="#footer_4-11">footnote 4-11</a> in Volume 1 refers back to no page + number in the introduction. Volume 7 & Volume 20 have the page number + xliv. We replaced the blank space for the page number left in volume 1 with + the page number specified in later volumes. +</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01414"> Chapter 6:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • On <a href="#Page_62">Page 62</a>, + <a href="#footer_6-4">Footnote 6-4</a> was not marked clearly in the + original book used for transcription. The footnote appeared fine in + Volume 1, and is rendered appropriately. + </p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01415"> Chapter 7:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_76">Page 76</a>, + <a href="#footer_7-5">Footnote 7-5</a> contains the word + "Atsatone8ai". The "spelling is correct." See <i>The Old Regime in + Canada</i> for similar usage, such as "8ta8aks." +</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01416"> Chapter 8:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_85">Page 85</a>, confirmed the spelling of + "i'auoüe" and the phrase "qui ne cherche que Dieu," which + were unclear in <a href="#footer_8-1">footnote 8-1</a> from the book + originally used for transcription.<br /> + • <a href="#Page_87">Page 87</a>: + small-pox is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing. + There are two other occurrences of the word, and the hyphen was + used, so the hyphen was retained here, too. +</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4> Chapter 9:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> +• <a href="#Page_105">Page 105</a>, Change gain to again in the clause +"the offending limb became sound again." The text was incorrect in Volume 1, +and corrected in Volume 7. +</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01417"> Chapter 12:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_147">Page 147</a>: By volume 7, Parkman + broke this long, compound sentence into two not-quite-as-long + sentences. The colon before "or" was changed to a period, and Or + began the next sentence: "... between him and the home of his boyhood. + Or rather ..." </p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01418"> Chapter 13:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_157">Page 157</a>: Near the end of the page, precarious + is split between two lines without a hyphen. "All these were supported by a + charity in most cases precari ous." The hyphen was missing, and the + word was split for spacing. We transcribed the word without the hyphen, + but omitted the space. This error was found in all volumes. +</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01418a"> Chapter 14:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_171">Page 171</a>-<a href="#Page_172">Page 172</a>: + In <a href="#footer_14-5">footnote 14-5</a>, add quotation mark before Enfin. + The leading quotation mark was missing in all volumes. + <br /> + • <a href="#Page_175">Page 175</a>: See the sentence "Like Madame de la + Peltrie, she married, at the desire of her parents. in her eighteenth year." + The comma after parents was either malformed because of the quality of the + plates, or mistyped as a period. We used a comma after parents. In volume 7, + the punctuation mark after parents was visibly a comma. +</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01419"> Chapter 15:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • Changed Bourgeois in topics list of Chapter 15 to Bourgeoys. Not + only does the correction match the spelling in the topics list for Chapter + 15 in the contents, but it matches the spelling of Marguerite Bourgeoys in + seven other instances of Chapter XV. In no other instance in this book was her + name spelled differently.<br /> + • Page 195--Confirmed that year in + <a href="#footer_15-8">footnote 15-8</a> is 1659.</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01420"> Chapter 16:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_237">Page 237</a>: + By volume 7, the narrative describing the return of Jogues says "He + reached the church in time for the early mass..." instead of the + evening mass. + </p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01421"> Chapter 18:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_263">Page 263</a>: poorly printed word in footnote, + appears to be "de." <a href="#footer_18-3">Footnote 18-3</a> has two uses + of de in italics, and both appear clearly in Volume 1. We believe this + issue is resolved.</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01422"> Chapter 19:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_281">Page 281</a>: fixed typo ("die", should be "dine"). + Volume 7 also has the phrase "We must die before we run." This typo does not + fall under Parkman's caveat in the Preface, and could confuse if preserved. + Therefore, the spelling was corrected. <br /> + • <a href="#Page_281">Page 281</a>: Add missing comma after effect in + the clause "and fired with such good effect, that, of seven warriors, + all but one were killed." This comma was added by Volume 7. +</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01423"> Chapter 22:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • In Volume 1, Parkman cited page 166 in Hutchinson, <i>Collection + of Papers</i> in <a href="#footer_22-18">Footnote 22-18</a>, but changed + the page number to 240 in later volumes. <br /> + • <a href="#Page_333">Page 333</a>: fixed typo ("Govornor"), + spelled incorrectly in all volumes. <br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01425"> Chapter 25:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_364">Page 364</a>: <a href="#footer_25-10">footnote + 25-10</a>, add missing close-quotes after cœur.<br /> + • <a href="#Page_368">Page 368</a>: In + <a href="#footer_25-18">footnote 25-18</a>, add comma after Algonquin. + There is a space reserved for the comma but it didn't appear in + the text: "Besides these tribes, the Jesuits had become more or less + acquainted with many others, also Algonquin on the west and south of + Lake Huron;" The comma was missing in all volumes.<br /> + • <a href="#Page_371">Page 371</a>: A colon appears at the end of the + page, after "at least in the flesh:"<br /> + • <a href="#Page_372">Page 372</a>: + In <a href="#footer_25-20">footnote 25-20</a>, après is correctly + spelled with a grave accent, but the text had an acute accent, and this + was preserved in accordance with Parkman's statement in the preface.<br /> + • In <a href="#footer_25-20">footnote 25-20</a>, verified the colon + (":") after "dit-il" in the final paragraph. In three quotations that + follow, we changed the double quotes to single quotes, because they were + quotations embedded within a quotation. <br /> + </p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01426"> Chapter 28:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • Changed "unconquerable" to "Unconquerable" in topics list + beginning Chapter XXVIII to match topics list for Chapter 28 in the Contents. + </p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01427"> Chapter 29:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • Page 397, <a href="#footer_29-4">footnote 29-4</a>, add missing + close-quotes after cœur. Parkman put the quotes around the extract + from the letter, but just omitted the closing quote after cœur. This + mistake does not come under the caveat of Parkman stated in the Preface, + so we made the change. This error can be found in all volumes. <br /> + • Page 401, <a href="#footer_29-10">footnote 29-10</a>, add comma + after Ragueneau in reference "Ragueneau Relation des Hurons, 1650." This + comma is missing in all volumes. + </p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01428"> Chapter 30:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_407">Page 407</a>: + "mâitre" (which should be maître) is preserved with the wrong + character circumflexed in the second paragraph of + <a href="#footer_30-4">footnote 30-4</a>, for reasons described in + Parkman's Preface. </p> + +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01429"> Chapter 31:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_412">Page 412</a>: + "neges" in <a href="#footer_31-2">footnote 31-2</a> should + be "neiges," but it is part of quoted text from the <i>Relations</i>, so + the spelling has been preserved. <br /> + • <a href="#Page_418">Page 418</a>-<a href="#Page_419">Page 419</a>: + war-party is split between the pages, and hyphenated, so the transcription + can only be war-party or warparty. We chose the former.</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4 id="id01430"> Chapter 32:</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_426">Page 426</a>: + By volume 7, Parkman described neighboring Point St. Ignace, "now Graham's + Point, on the north side of the strait." </p> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JESUITS IN NORTH AMERICA ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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