Chapter XV: Preface: To Vol. I (5)

We were near these Azores on Tuesday of Easter week, when suddenly we became a prey to our sworn foe, the West wind, which was so violent and obstinate that we very nearly perished. For eight entire days it gave us no quarter, its vindictiveness being augmented by cold and sometimes rain or snow.

In taking this route to New France, so rough and dangerous, especially in small and badly-equipped boats, one experiences the sum total of all the miseries of life. We could rest neither [16] day nor night. When we wished to eat, a dish suddenly slipped from us and struck somebody's head. We fell over each other and against the baggage, and thus found ourselves mixed up with others who had been upset in the same way; cups were spilled over our beds, and bowls in our laps, or a big wave demanded our plates.

I was so highly honored by Monsieur de Biancourt as to share his cabin. One fine night, as we were lying in bed, trying to get a little rest, a neat and impudent wave bent our window fastenings, broke the window, and covered us over completely; we had the same experience again, during the day. Furthermore, the cold was so severe, and continued to be for more than six weeks, that we lost nearly all sensation from numbness and exposure. Good Father Masse suffered a great deal.[39] He was ill about forty days, eating very little and seldom leaving his bed; yet, notwithstanding all that, he wanted to fast. After Easter he continued to improve, thank God, more and more. As for me, I was gay and happy, and, by the grace of God, was never ill enough to stay in bed even when several of the sailors had to give up.

After escaping from these trials, we entered the ice at the Azores of the bank, 46 degrees north latitude. Some of these masses of ice seemed like islands, others [17] little villages, others grand churches or lofty domes, or magnificent castles: all were floating. To avoid them we steered towards the south; but this was falling, as they say, from Charybdis into Scylla, for from these high rocks we fell into a level field of low ice, with which the sea was entirely covered, as far as the eye could reach. We did not know how to steer through it; and had it not been for the fearlessness of Monsieur de Biancourt, our sailors would have been helpless; but he guided us out, notwithstanding the protests of many of them, through a place where the ice was more scattered, and God, in his goodness, assisted us.

On the 5th of May, we disembarked at Campceau,[40] and there had the opportunity of celebrating holy mass after so long a time, and of strengthening ourselves with that bread which never fails to nourish and console. Then we coasted along until we reached Port Royal, where we arrived under good and happy auspices early in the morning[41] of the holy day of Pentecost, the 22nd of May,[XII.] the day upon which the sun enters the constellation Gemini. Our voyage had lasted four months.

The joy of Monsieur de Potrincourt and his followers, at our arrival, is indescribable. They had been, during the entire winter, reduced [18] to sore straits, as I am going to explain to you.

Monsieur de Potrincourt had accompanied his son a part of the way upon the latter's return to France the last of July, 1610, and had gone as far as port Saint John,[XIII.] otherwise called Chachippé,[42] 70 leagues east and south of Port Royal. When he was returning, as he veered around Cape Sable, he found himself in a strong current; weakened by hardships, he was obliged to yield the helm, in order to take a little rest, commanding his successor to always keep near the shore, even in the deepest part of the Bay. This pilot, I know not why, did not follow his orders, but soon afterward changed his course and left the shore.

The Savage, Membertou, who was following in his boat, was astonished that Poutrincourt should take this route; but, not knowing why he did so, neither followed him nor said anything about it. So he soon arrived at Port Royal, while Monsieur de Potrincourt drifted about for six weeks, in danger of being hopelessly lost; for this worthy gentleman, when he awoke, was very much surprised at seeing himself in a small boat in the open sea, out of sight of land. He looked at his dial in vain, for not knowing [19] what route his amiable pilot had taken, he could not guess where he was, nor in what direction to turn. Another misfortune was that his boat would not sail on a bowline,[XIV.] having been somehow damaged in the sides. So, whether he wished to do so or not, he was always obliged to sail before the wind.

A third inconvenience and misfortune was a lack of food. However, he is a man who does not easily give up, and good luck follows him. Now in this perplexity about the route, he fortunately decided to turn to the north, and God sent him what he desired, a favorable South wind. His thrift served him against the misfortune of hunger, for he had hunted and kept a certain number of cormorants.[XV.] But how could they be roasted in a small boat, so as to be eaten and kept? Fortunately he found he had a few planks, upon which he built a fire-place, and thus roasted the game; by the aid of which he arrived at Pentegouët, formerly Norembegue, and from there to the Etechemins, thence to the harbor of Port Royal, where by a piece of ill luck, he was nearly shipwrecked.

It was dark when he entered this harbor, and his crew began to oppose him, stoutly denying [20] that they were in the harbor of Port Royal. He was willing to listen to their objections, and unfortunately even yielded to them; and so turning to the lower part of French Bay, he went wandering away off at the mercy of the winds and waves. Meanwhile the colonists of Port Royal were in great anxiety and had already nearly made up their minds that he was lost; the savage, Membertou, strengthened this fear by asserting that he had seen him sail out of sight upon the sea; whence it was inferred, since people believe as easily what they fear as what they favor, that as such and such a wind had prevailed, it was impossible for them to escape in such a boat. And they were already planning their return to France. Now they were greatly astonished, and at the same time exceedingly happy when they saw their Theseus return from another world; this was six weeks after his departure, just when Monsieur de Biancourt arrived in France, whose return was expected at Port Royal during the whole month of November of the same year, 1610. But they were very much surprised when they did not see him at Christmas; then they lost all hope, on account of the winter weather, of seeing him again before the end of the following April.

For this reason they cut down their rations; but such economy was of little avail, since Sieur de Potrincourt did not lessen [21] his liberality toward the Savages, fearing to alienate them from the Christian faith. He is truly a liberal and magnanimous gentleman, refusing all recompense for the good he does them; so when they are occasionally asked why they do not give him something in return for so many favors, they are accustomed to answer, cunningly: _Endries ninan metaij Sagamo_, that is to say, "Monsieur does not care for our beaver skins." Nevertheless, they have now and then sent him some pieces of elk meat, which have helped him to gain time [i.e., to save his own provisions]. But they, the French, had a good chance of economizing when winter came, for their mill froze up, and they had no way of making flour. Happily for them they found a store of peas and beans, which proved to be their manna and ambrosia for seven weeks.

Then April came, but not the ship; now it was just as well that the mill was frozen up, for they had nothing to put in the hopper. What were they to do? Hunger is a bad complaint. Some began to fish, others to dig. From their fishing they obtained some smelts and herrings; from their digging some very good roots, called _chiqueli_, which are very abundant in certain places.

Thus this importunate creditor was somewhat satisfied; I say somewhat, because, when there was no bread, [22] everything else was of little account; and they had already made up their minds that, if the ship did not come during the month of May, they would resort to the coast, in search of ships to take them back to the sweet land of wheat and vines. It was Monsieur de Potrincourt's followers who talked this way; as for him, he was full of courage and knew well how he could manage to hold out until saint John's day [midsummer]. Thank God, there was no need of this, for, as has been said, we arrived the 22nd of May. Those who know what hunger, despair, fear and suffering are, what it is to be a leader and see all one's enterprises and hard work come to nought, can imagine what must have been the joy of Monsieur de Potrincourt and his colony upon seeing us arrive.

We all wept at this meeting, which seemed almost like a dream; then when we had recovered ourselves a little and had begun to talk, this question (mine, in fact) was proposed, to wit: Which was the happier of the two, Monsieur de Potrincourt and his people, or Monsieur de Biancourt and his? Truly, our hearts swelled within us, and God, in his mercy, showed that he took pleasure in our joy; for, after mass and dinner, there was nothing but going and coming from the ship to the settlement, and from the settlement to the [23] ship, each one wanting to embrace and be embraced by his friends, just as, after the winter, we rejoice in the beautiful spring, and after a siege, in our freedom. It happened that two persons from the settlement took one of the canoes of the savages to go to the ship. These canoes are so made that, if you do not sit very straight and steady, they immediately tip over; now it chanced that, wishing to come back in the same canoe from the ship to the settlement, somehow they did not properly balance it, and both fell into the water.

Fortunately, it occurred at a time when I happened to be walking upon the shore with Monsieur de Potrincourt. Seeing the accident, we made signs with our hats as best we could to those upon the ship to come to their aid; for it would have been useless to call out, so far away was the ship, and so loud the noise of the wind. At first no one paid any attention to us, so we had recourse to prayer, and fell upon our knees, this being our only alternative; and God had pity upon us. One of the two caught hold of the canoe, which was turned upside down, and threw himself upon it: the other was finally saved by a boat, and thus both were rescued; so our cup of joy was full in seeing how God in his all paternal love and gentleness, would not permit the evil one to trouble us and to destroy our happiness upon this good day. To him be the glory forever. Amen!

[24] But now that we have arrived in good health, by the grace of God, it is time we were casting our eyes over the country, and were giving some consideration to the condition in which we find christianity here. Its whole foundation consists, after God, in this little settlement of a family of about twenty persons. Messire Jessé Flesche, commonly called the Patriarch, has had charge of it; and, in the year that he has lived here, has baptized about one hundred Savages. The trouble is, he has not been able to instruct them as he would have wished, because he did not know the language, and had nothing with which to support them; for he who would minister to their souls, must at the same time resolve to nourish their bodies. This worthy man has shown great friendliness toward us, and thanked God for our coming; for he had made up his mind some time ago to return to France at the first opportunity, which he is now quite free to do without regret at leaving a vine which he has planted.

They have not yet succeeded in translating into the native language the common creed or symbol, the Lord's prayer, the commandments of God, the Sacraments, and other principles quite necessary to the making of a christian.

Recently, when I was at port Saint John, I was informed that among the other Savages there were five who were already christians. Thereupon I took occasion to give them [25] some pictures, and to erect a cross before their wigwams, singing a _Salve Regina_. I had them make the sign of the cross; but I was very much astonished, for the unbaptized understood almost as much about it as the christians. I asked each one his baptismal name; some did not know theirs, so they called themselves _Patriarchs_, because it is the Patriarch who gives them their names, and thus they conclude that, when they have forgotten their own names, they ought to be called _Patriarchs_.

It was also rather amusing that, when I asked them if they were christians, they did not know what I meant; when I asked them if they had been baptized, they answered: _Hetaion enderquir Vortmandia Patriarché_, that is to say, "Yes, the Patriarch has made us like the Normans." Now they call all the French "Normans," except the Malouins,[43] whom they call Samaricois, and the Basques, Bascua.

The name of the _sagamore_, that is, the lord of port Saint John, is Cacagous, a man who is shrewd and cunning as are no others upon the coast; that is all that he brought back from France (for he has been in France); he told me he had been baptized in Bayonne, relating his story to me as one tells about going to a ball out of friendship. Whereupon, seeing how wicked he was, and [26] wishing to try and arouse his conscience, I asked him how many wives he had. He answered that he had eight; and in fact he counted off seven to me who were there present, pointing them out with as much pride, instead of an equal degree of shame, as if I had asked him the number of his legitimate children.

Another, who was looking out for a number of wives, made the following answer to my objections on the ground that he was a Christian: _Reroure quiro Nortmandia_: which means, "That is all well enough for you Normans." So there is scarcely any change in them after their baptism. The same savagery and the same manners, or but little different, the same customs, ceremonies, usages, fashions, and vices remain, at least as far as can be learned; no attention being paid to any distinction of time, days, offices, exercises, prayers, duties, virtues, or spiritual remedies.

Membertou, as the one who has most associated with Monsieur de Potrincourt for a long time, is also the most zealous and shows the greatest faith, but even he complains of not understanding us well enough; he would like to become a preacher, he says, if he were properly taught. He gave me a witty answer the other day, as I was teaching him his _Pater_, according to the translation made of it by M. de Biancourt, when [27] I had him say: _Nui en caraco nac iquem esmoi ciscou_; that is, "Give us this day our daily bread." "But," said he, "if I did not ask him for anything but bread, I would be without moose-meat or fish."

The good old man told us, with a great deal of feeling, how God is helping him since he has become a Christian, saying that this spring it happened that he and his family were suffering much from hunger; then he remembered that he was a christian, and therefore prayed to God. After his prayer, he went to the river and found all the smelts he wanted. And while I am speaking of this old sagamore, the first fruit of this heathen nation, I will tell you also what happened this winter.

He was sick, and what is more, had been given up to die by the native _aoutmoins_, or sorcerers. Now it is the custom, when the Aoutmoins have pronounced the malady or wound to be mortal, for the sick man to cease eating from that time on, nor do they give him anything more. But, donning his beautiful robe, he begins chanting his own death-song; after this, if he lingers too long, a great many pails of water are thrown over him to hasten his death, and sometimes he is buried half alive. Now the children of Membertou, though christians, were prepared to exercise this noble and pious duty toward their father; already they had ceased giving him anything to eat and had taken away his [28] beautiful otter robe, and he had, like the swan, finished his Nænie, or funeral chant. One thing still troubled him, that he did not know how to die like a christian, and he had not taken farewell of Monsieur de Potrincourt. When M. de Potrincourt heard these things, he went to see him, remonstrated with him, and assured him that, in spite of all the Aoutmoins and Pilotois, he would live and recover his health if he would eat something, which he was bound to do, being a christian. The good man believed and was saved; to-day he tells this story with great satisfaction, and very aptly points out how God has thereby mercifully exposed the malice and deceit of their aoutmoins.

I shall here relate another act of the same Sieur de Potrincourt, which has been of great benefit to all these heathen. A christian savage had died, and (as a mark of his constancy) he had sent word here to the settlement during his sickness, that he desired our prayers. After his death the other Savages prepared to bury him in their way; they are accustomed to take everything that belongs to the deceased, skins, bows, utensils, wigwams, etc., and burn them all, howling and shouting certain cries, sorceries, and invocations to the evil spirit. M. de Potrincourt firmly resolved to oppose these ceremonies. So he armed all his men, and [29] going to the Savages in force, by this means obtained what he asked, namely, that the body should be given to the Patriarch, and so the burial took place according to christian customs. This act, inasmuch as it could not be prevented by the Savages, was and still is, greatly praised by them.

The chapel they have been using until now is very small, badly arranged, and in every way unsuited for religious services. To remedy this, M. de Poutrincourt has given us an entire quarter of his habitation, if we can roof it over and adapt it to our needs. But I shall add one more word which will be pleasant and edifying news to many.

After my arrival here at Port Royal, I went with M. de Potrincourt as far as the Etechemins. There God willed that I should meet young du Pont, of Sainct Malo,[44] who, having been for some reason frightened away [from the settlement],[XVI.] had passed the entire year with the Savages, living just as they did. He is a young man of great physical and mental strength, excelled by none of the savages in the chase, in alertness and endurance, and in his ability to speak their language. He was very much afraid of M. de [30] Potrincourt: but God inspired me with so much faith in him that, relying upon my word, Du Pont came with me to our ship; and after making some apologies and promises, peace was declared, to the great satisfaction of all. When he departed, as the cannon were sounding, he begged me to appoint an hour to receive his confession. The next morning, in his great eagerness, he anticipated the hour, and made his confession upon the shores of the sea in the presence of all the Savages, who were greatly astonished at thus seeing him upon his knees so long before me. Then he took communion in a most exemplary manner, at which I can say tears came into my eyes, and not into mine alone. The devil was confounded at this act; so he straightway planned trouble for us that very afternoon; but thank God, through the justice and goodness of M. de Potrincourt, harmony was everywhere restored.

And now you have had, my Reverend Father, an account of our voyage, of what happened in it, and before it, and since our arrival at this settlement. It now remains to tell you that the conversion of this country to the Gospel, and of these people to civilization, is not a small undertaking nor free from great difficulties; for, in the first place, if we consider the country, it is only a forest, without other conveniences of life than those which will be brought from France, and what in time may be obtained from the soil after [31] it has been cultivated. The nation is savage, wandering and full of bad habits; the people few and isolated. They are, I say, savage, haunting the woods, ignorant, lawless and rude: they are wanderers, with nothing to attach them to a place, neither homes nor relationship, neither possessions nor love of country; as a people they have bad habits, are extremely lazy, gluttonous, profane, treacherous, cruel in their revenge, and given up to all kinds of lewdness, men and women alike, the men having several wives and abandoning them to others, and the women only serving them as slaves, whom they strike and beat unmercifully, and who dare not complain; and after being half killed, if it so please the murderer, they must laugh and caress him.

With all these vices, they are exceedingly vainglorious: they think they are better, more valiant and more ingenious than the French; and, what is difficult to believe, richer than we are. They consider themselves, I say, braver than we are, boasting that they have killed Basques and Malouins, and that they do a great deal of harm to the ships, and that no one has ever resented it, insinuating that it was from a lack of courage. They consider themselves better than the French; "For," they say, "you are always fighting and quarreling among yourselves; we live peaceably. You are envious and are all the time slandering each other; [32] you are thieves and deceivers; you are covetous, and are neither generous nor kind; as for us, if we have a morsel of bread we share it with our neighbor."

They are saying these and like things continually, seeing the above-mentioned imperfections in some of us, and flattering themselves that some of their own people do not have them so conspicuously, not realizing that they all have much greater vices, and that the better part of our people do not have even these defects, they conclude generally that they are superior to all christians. It is self-love that blinds them, and the evil one who leads them on, no more nor less than in our France, we see those who have deviated from the faith holding themselves higher and boasting of being better than the catholics, because in some of them they see many faults; considering neither the virtues of the other catholics, nor their own still greater imperfections; wishing to have, like Cyclops, only a single eye, and to fix that one upon the vices of a few catholics, never upon the virtues of the others, nor upon themselves, unless it be for the purpose of self-deception.

Also they [the savages] consider themselves more ingenious, inasmuch as they see us admire some of their productions as the work of people so rude and ignorant; [33] lacking intelligence, they bestow very little admiration upon what we show them, although much more worthy of being admired. Hence they regard themselves as much richer than we are, although they are poor and wretched in the extreme.

Cacagous, of whom I have already spoken, is quite gracious when he is a little elated about something; to show his kindly feelings toward the French he boasts of his willingness to go and see the King, and to take him a present of a hundred beaver skins, proudly suggesting that in so doing he will make him richer than all his predecessors. They get this idea from the extreme covetousness and eagerness which our people display to obtain their beaver skins.

Not less amusing is the remark of a certain Sagamore, who, having heard M. de Potrincourt say that the King was young and unmarried: "Perhaps," said he, "I may let him marry my daughter; but according to the usages and customs of the country, the King must make me some handsome presents; namely, four or five barrels of bread, three of peas or beans, one of tobacco, four or five cloaks worth one hundred sous apiece, bows, arrows, harpoons, and other similar articles."

Such are the marks of intelligence in the people of these countries, which are very sparsely populated, especially those of the Soriquois and Etechemins, which are near the sea; although [34] Membertou assures us that in his youth he has seen _chimonuts_, that is to say, Savages, as thickly planted there as the hairs upon his head. It is maintained that they have thus diminished since the French have began to frequent their country; for, since then they do nothing all summer but eat; and the result is that, adopting an entirely different custom and thus breeding new diseases, they pay for their indulgence during the autumn and winter by pleurisy, quinsy and dysentery, which kill them off. During this year alone sixty have died at Cape de la Hève, which is the greater part of those who lived there; yet not one of all M. de Potrincourt's little colony has even been sick, notwithstanding all the privations they have suffered; which has caused the Savages to apprehend that God protects and defends us as his favorite and well-beloved people.

What I say about the sparseness of the population of these countries must be understood as referring to the people who live upon the coast; for farther inland, principally among the Etechemins, there are, it is said, a great many people. All these things, added to the difficulty of acquiring the language, the time that must be consumed, the expenses that must be incurred, the great distress, toil and poverty that must be endured, fully proclaim the greatness of this enterprise and the difficulties which beset it. Yet [35] many things encourage me to continue in it.

First, my trust in the goodness and providence of God. Isaiah assures us that the kingdom of our Redeemer shall be recognized throughout the earth; and that there shall be neither caves of dragons nor dens of cockatrices, nor inaccessible rocks, nor abysses so deep, that his grace will not soften and his salvation cure, his abundance fertilize, his humility raise up, and over which his cross will not at last victoriously triumph. And why shall I not hope that the time has come when this prophecy is to be fulfilled in these lands? If that be so, what can there be so difficult that our Lord cannot make it easy?

In the second place, I rely upon the King, our Sire. He is a Sovereign who promises us nothing less than the late King, his father, the incomparable Henry the Great. This work began in the latter's reign, and it may be said that in the century since France has appropriated this country, or has so completely taken possession of it, there has not been so much accomplished at any time as since our present king became sovereign; may God fill his reign with all blessings. He will not permit his name and arms to stand in these regions side by side with paganism, his authority with barbarism, his renown with savagery, his power with poverty, [36] his faith with lack of works, nor leave his subjects without aid or succor. His mother also, another Queen Blanche,[45] looking to the glory of God, will contemplate these lately-acquired wildernesses, where in the beginning of her Regency the Gospel plough has, through her instrumentality, created some hope of a harvest; and will recall what the late King, great in wisdom as well as in courage, said to Sieur de Potrincourt when he came to this country: "Go," said he. "I plan the edifice; my son will build it." We beg your Reverence to lay this matter before him, together with the work which might be done by their Majesties in these lands, if it were their good pleasure to endow and to give a fair revenue to this mission, from which all those who would be educated and maintained here might go forth through the whole country.

That is the second resource upon which our hopes are founded; to which I will add the piety and liberality which we experienced upon our departure from the lords and ladies of this most noble and most christian court, who promised me that they would not fail to assist this enterprise with their means, in order not to lose what they have already invested in it, which serves them as monuments of glory and of eternal happiness before God.

M. de Potrincourt, a mild and upright Gentleman, [37] brave, beloved and well-known in these parts, and M. de Biancourt, his son, who reflects the virtues and good qualities of his father, both zealous in serving God, and who honor and cherish us more than we deserve, also encourage us in devoting all our energy to this work.

Finally, we are encouraged by the situation and condition of this place, which, if it is cultivated, promises to furnish a great deal for the needs of human life; and its beauty causes me to wonder that it has been so little sought up to the present time. From this port where we now are, it is very convenient for us to spread out to the Armouchiquois, Iroquois, and Montagnais, our neighbors, which are populous nations and till the soil as we do; this situation, I say, makes us hope something for the future. For, if our Souriquois are few, they may become numerous; if they are savages, it is to domesticate and civilize them that we have come here; if they are rude, that is no reason that we should be idle; if they have until now profited little, it is no wonder, for it would be too much to expect fruit from this grafting, and to demand reason and maturity from a child.

In conclusion, we hope in time to make them susceptible of receiving the doctrines of the faith and of the christian and catholic religion, and later, to penetrate [38] farther into the regions beyond, which they say are more populous and better cultivated. We base this hope upon Divine goodness and mercy, upon the zeal and fervent charity of all good people who earnestly desire the kingdom of God, particularly upon the holy prayers of Your Reverence and of our Reverend Fathers and very dear Brothers, to whom we most affectionately commend ourselves.

From Port Royal, New France, this tenth day of June, one thousand six hundred and eleven.

PIERRE BIARD.

FOOTNOTES:

[X.] Charles de Biencourt, esquire, sieur de Saint-Just and son of Monsieur de Poutrincourt. He was then nineteen or twenty years old. (_Lescarbot_ and _Champlain_.)--[Carayon.]

[XI.] Thomas Robin, esquire, sieur de Cologne, living in the city of Paris. (_Lescarbot._)--[Carayon.]

[XII.] Champlain and Charlevoix, who copied this, were wrong in saying the 12th of June.--[Carayon.]

[XIII.] Lescarbot says: "His father accompanied him as far as port de la Hève, a hundred leagues, more or less, from Port Royal." This makes it appear that Chachippè, Port Saint John, and la Hève are one and the same place.--[Carayon.]

[XIV.] To sail on a bowline means to sail close to the wind.--[Carayon.]

[XV.] The _cormorant_ is a long-necked, high-stepping sea-bird, which lives upon fish.--[Carayon.]

[XVI.] "The year before he had been made a prisoner by Sieur de Potrincourt; and having slyly escaped from him, he had been obliged to wander about in the woods in great misery."--(_Printed Relation._)--[Carayon.]

[39] Lettre du Père Ennemond Masse au R. P. Claude Aquaviva, Général de la Compagnie de Jésus.

_(Traduite sur l'original latin._)

PORT-ROYAL, 10 juin 1611.

MON TRÈS-RÉVÉREND PÈRE,
Pax Christi.

Si Votre Paternité a vu avec plaisir ma lettre du 13 octobre, j'en ai éprouvé bien davantage à recevoir la sienne du 7 décembre; d'autant plus que je suis le premier de la Compagnie qui ait reçu la première lettre que Votre Paternité ait jamais envoyée au Canada. Je prends ce fait comme un heureux augure, et je l'accepte comme venant du ciel, pour m'exciter _à courir avec ferveur dans la carrière_, afin de mériter et de recevoir _le prix de cette vocation céleste_, et enfin de me sacrifier moi-même plus promptement et plus complétement pour le salut de ces peuples.

Je vous l'avoue; _j'ai dit alors_ franchement à Dieu: _Me voici: Si vous choisissez ce qu'il y a de faible et de méprisable dans ce monde, pour renverser_ [40] et _détruire ce qui est fort_, vous trouverez tout cela dans Ennemond. _Me voici: envoyez-moi, et rendez ma langue_ et _ma parole intelligible, afin que je ne sois pas barbare pour ceux qui m'entendront._

Vos prières, j'en ai la confiance, ne seront pas sans succès, comme semble le présager notre arrivée ici, le très-saint jour de la Pentecôte. _Nous sommes faibles en Jésus-Christ, mais_, je l'espère, _nous vivrons avec lui par la force de Dieu_. Que Votre Paternité, je l'en conjure, obtienne par ses saintes prières et ses saints sacrifices, que le Seigneur accomplisse toutes ces choses en nous.

Le fils indigne en Jésus-Christ de la Compagnie de Jésus.

ENNEMOND MASSE.

Port-Royal, dans la Nouvelle-France, le 10 juin 1611.

[39] Letter from Father Ennemond Masse to Reverend Father Claude Aquaviva, General of the Society of Jesus.

(_Translated from the Latin original._)

PORT ROYAL, June 10, 1611.

MY VERY REVEREND FATHER,
The peace of Christ be with you

If Your Reverence read with pleasure my letter of October 13th, I felt a great deal more in receiving yours of December 7th, especially as I am the first of the Society to receive from Your Reverence the first letter which you have ever sent to Canada. I take this event as a happy omen, and accept it as coming from heaven, to incite me _to run with ardor in the race_, in order to merit and receive _the reward of this heavenly vocation_, and to sacrifice myself more promptly and more completely for the salvation of these people.

I admit to you _that I said then_ freely to God: _Here I am; if you choose what is weak and despicable in this world to overthrow_ [40] _and destroy that which is strong_, you will find all this in Ennemond. _Here I am; send me, and make my tongue and my words intelligible, so that I may not be a barbarian to those who will hear me._

Your prayers, I am sure, will not be in vain, as our arrival here upon the most holy day of Pentecost seems to presage. _We are weak in Jesus Christ, but_, I hope, _we shall live with him by the power of God_. It is my earnest entreaty that Your Reverence, by your prayers and holy sacrifices, may prevail upon the Lord to accomplish all these things in us.

The unworthy son in Jesus Christ, of the Society of Jesus,

ENNEMOND MASSE.

Port Royal, New France, June 10, 1611.

[41] Lettre du P. Pierre Biard, au T.-R. P. Claude Aquaviva, Général de la Compagnie de Jésus.

(_Traduite sur l'original latin._)

PORT-ROYAL, 11 juin 1611.

MON TRÈS-RÉVÉREND PÈRE,
Pax Christi.

Après quatre mois d'une navigation vraiment trèspénible et très-périlleuse, nous sommes enfin arrivés, grâce à la protection de Dieu et aux prières de Votre Paternité, à Port-Royal, dans cette Nouvelle-France, terme de notre voyage.

Nous avons en effet quitté Dieppe le 26 janvier de cette année 1611, et nous sommes arrivés cette même année le 22 mai. Je donne en français au R. P. Provincial la relation de toute notre entreprise et de l'état où nous avons trouvé les choses ici. C'est ce qui me paraissait plus urgent et plus utile, puisque j'étais dans l'impossibilité de le faire en même temps en latin. Je ne me suis pas encore arrêté huit jours à Port-Royal, et tout le temps est [42] absorbé par des interruptions continuelles et par les nécessités de la vie. Au reste, le P. Masse et moi, nous nous portons assez bien, grâce à Dieu: mais il nous a fallu prendre un serviteur pour les travaux matériels. Nous ne pouvions nous en passer sans un grand détriment pour l'esprit et pour le coeur.

M. de Potrincourt, qui commande ici au nom du Roi, nous aime et nous estime en proportion de sa piété.

A la première occasion nous nous empresserons, avec la grâce de Dieu, de dire quelles sont nos espérances de succès.

Le vaisseau s'est déjà éloigné. Je vais être obligé d'aller le rejoindre en canot, pour qu'il ne parte sans mes lettres.

Je conjure Votre Paternité, par les mérites de Jésus-Christ, de se souvenir de nous et de ces contrées très-solitaires, et de venir à notre secours, autant qu'elle le pourra, non-seulement par le moyen des prières très-ferventes de notre Compagnie, mais aussi par la bénédiction et les faveurs de notre Saint-Père le Pape (comme je les ai déjà demandées).

Assurément nous semons dans une grande pauvreté et dans les larmes; daigne le Seigneur nous accorder de moissonner un jour dans la joie. C'est ce qui arrivera, comme je l'espère et comme je l'ai [43] dit, grâce aux prières et aux bénédictions de Votre Paternité, que je sollicite humblement,

de Votre Paternité,
Le fils et serviteur indigne,
PIERRE BIARD, S. J.

A Port-Royal, dans la Nouvelle-France, ou Canada, le 11 de juin 1611.

[41] Letter from Father Pierre Biard, to the Very Reverend Father Claude Aquaviva, General of the Society of Jesus.

(_Translated from the Latin original._)

PORT ROYAL, June 11, 1611.

MY VERY REVEREND FATHER,
The peace of Christ be with you.

After four months of very painful and perilous navigation, we have at last arrived, thanks to the protection of God and to the prayers of Your Reverence, at Port Royal, in New France, the end of our journey.

In truth we left Dieppe the 26th of January this year, 1611, and arrived May 22nd of this same year. I am giving to the Reverend Father Provincial the narrative in French of our whole undertaking, and of the condition in which we found things here. This seemed to me the more necessary and useful, as it was impossible for me to write it at the same time in Latin. I have not yet been settled a week in Port Royal, and all the time has [42] been taken up by continual interruptions and in providing the necessities of life. As to ourselves, Father Masse and I, we are feeling very well, thank God; but we have been obliged to take a servant to do the drudgery. We could not dispense with one without a great deal of anxiety and trouble.

M. de Potrincourt, who commands here in the name of the King, loves and esteems us in proportion to his piety.

We shall take the first opportunity to impart to you what may be, by the grace of God, our prospects of success in this country.

The ship has already gone. I shall be obliged to overtake it in a canoe, that it may not leave without my letters.

I conjure Your Reverence, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to remember us and these solitary lands, and to come to our aid in so far as you are able, not only by the fervent prayers of our Society, but also by the blessing and favor of our Holy Father the Pope (which I have already invoked). Surely we sow in great poverty and in tears; may the Lord grant that we some day reap in joy. Which will come to pass, as I hope and have said, [43] through the prayers and blessings of Your Reverence, which are humbly solicited by your

Unworthy son and servant,
PIERRE BIARD, S. J.

Port Royal, New France, or Canada, June 11, 1611.

_Ian Swelinc fecit I Millot excudit_ MARCVS: LESCARBOT _nunc primum delin'auit publicauit donauit Avec privilege du Roy_

FROM LESCARBOT'S HISTOIRE DE LA NOVVELLE FRANCE; PARIS, 1612.

[Reduced to 2/3 the dimensions of original.]]

VII

JOUVENCY'S CANADICÆ MISSIONIS RELATIO

ROME: GIORGIO PLACKO, 1710

SOURCE: We follow the general style of O'Callaghan's Reprint No.
4. The Title-page, Eulogy of Biard, and Table of Contents, are the
work of that Editor. The Text, and List of Missions in 1710, he
reprinted from Jouvency's _Historia Societatis Jesu_ (Rome, 1710),
part v., pp. 321-325, 961, 962; the proof of these we have read
from a copy of that work, found in the library of the College of
St. Francis Xavier, New York. The bracketed pagination in Arabic
figures is that of Jouvency; that in Roman, of O'Callaghan.

CANADICÆ

MISSIONIS

RELATIO

_Ab anno 1611 usque ad annum 1613, cum statu ejusdem Missionis,
annis 1703 & 1710_,

Auctore JOSEPHO JUVENCIO, Societatis
Jesu, Sacerdote.

Ex Historiæ Soc. Jesu. Lib. xv. Part. v, impressa

ROMÆ
Ex Typographia Georgii Plachi
M. D. CC. X.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE

CANADIAN

MISSION

_From the year 1611 until the year 1613, with the condition of the
same Mission in the years 1703 and 1710_,

By JOSEPH JOUVENCY, a Priest of the
Society of Jesus.

Printed from the History of the Society of Jesus, Book xv., Part v.

ROME
From the Press of Giorgio Placko
1710.

[i] P. Petri Biardi Eulogium ac Vita.

DE Patre Petro Biardo qui tantam in Missione Canadica inchoanda partem gessit hæc scribit Pater Josephus Juvencius in sua Historiâ sub anno 1622.

"Ex omnibus qui hoc anno vivere in provincia Lugdunensi desierunt, luctu maximo elatus est Avenione P. PETRUS BIARDUS Gratianopolitanus. Religionis propagandæ studio navigaverat ad barbaros Canadenses, fueratque inter primos ejus terræ cultores, ut in quinta parte narratum est. Inde pulsus ab hæreticis Anglis, & redire in Galliam coactus, totum se impendit [ii] juvandis popularibus suis, quorum ut saluti consuleret, nihil sibi reliqui ad laborem diligentiamque faciebat. Ejus tamen industriam experti maxime sunt Parodienses in præfectura Carolitana, quam civitatem per usitata ordinis ministeria diu coluit. Novissime regionis præfectus Marchio Ragnius, jussus a rege copias in Campaniam ducere contra Ernestum Mansfeldium Galliæ finibus imminentem, Biardum sibi adsciverat comitem expeditionis, & sacrorum ministrum. Per eam occasionem nescias, utrum spectata magis sit apostolici viri charitas, an patientia. Magna erat in castris inopia commeatuum. Diaria militibus præbebantur adeo maligne, ut nonnulli fame perirent. Biardus cibario, & demensum suum, ac siquid præterea pecuniolæ a ditioribus emendicando corrogasset, inter egentissimos militum partiebatur, se ipsum fraudans diurno victu, ut aliis benigne faceret. Avenionem concesserat [iii] denique, ut attritas tot laboribus vires paucorum dierum otio reficeret. Verum quasi divinans, instare sibi omnium laborum & vitæ finem, totum illud tempus impendit excolendo piis commentationibus animo inter tirones, seque ad primam tirocinii formam senex emeritus ita composuit, ut nullam omitteret earum exercitationum, quibus ad sui mundique contemptum erudiri solent novitii. His intentum, nihilque jam præter cælestia cogitantem mors oppressit, xv. Cal. Decembris."

Adhæc non inutile forsan videbitur adjicere quæ ab auctore antiquiore Philippo scilicet Alegambe scripta sunt in Catalogo Scriptorum Societatis Jesu, sub verbo Biard:

"PETRUS BIARDUS natione Gallus, patriâ Gratianopolitanus, operarius magni zeli, atque adeò multarum palmarum, quas [iv] in horridis et inuiis Canadensium Septentrionalis Americæ populorum siluis primus legit. Extrema ibi omnia passus, nihil tamen inhumanum magis, quàm Hæreticos, expertus est. Feritatis oblita gens barbara integerrimi hominis innocentiam venerari discebat; cùm ecce tibi sanctitatis inimica, Deumque nesciens Hæresis, cum Anglis Canadæ oras irrupit; difficillimæ expeditionis ingens pretium fuit, exosum inde abducere Jesuitam. Habitus est in vinculis aliquamdiu; & vix tandem in Galliam nudus ab omni remissus. Intereà verò dum integrum illi esset ad noualia Canadæ redire, damnum ab Hæreticis illatum sanctè vitus est: reliquo vitæ tempore quæsiuit intentissimis studiis ad vitam illos, à quibus ad necem adductus fuerat. Docuerat olim Theologiam Lugduni, non sine laude. Reuersus è Missione Castrensi, cùm Auenionem diuertisset, & opportunitate temporis vsus secessisset in Nouitiatum, in ipsis [v] penè spiritualium Exercitiorum initiis, ad paradisi contemplationem, vt credimus, euocatus est, die XIX. Nouembris, Anno MDCXXIJ.

Præter _Epistolam ad R. P. Præpositum Generalem è Portu Regali_, et _Relationem Expeditionis Anglorum in Canadam_, P. Biardus scripsit _Librum pro auctoritate Pontificis_, contra Martinettum Ministrum. Gallicè etiam edidit seorsim _Relationem Novæ Franciæ & itineris Patrum Societatis Jesu ad illam_. Lugduni apud L. Muguet, MDCXVI. in 12."

[i] Eulogy and Life of Father Peter Biard.

CONCERNING Father Peter Biard, who performed so great a part in the establishment of the Canadian Mission, Father Joseph Juvency[46] writes these things in his History, under the year 1622:

"Of all who during the present year have departed this life in the province of Lyons, the most regretted was FATHER PETER BIARD, of Grenoble, who, was taken away at Avignon. With the desire of propagating religion, he had journeyed to the barbarous Canadians, and had been among the first settlers of that country, as has been narrated in the fifth part (of this volume). Upon being driven thence by the heretical English, and compelled to return to France, he entirely devoted himself [ii] to the service of his countrymen; and, that he might provide for their salvation, in no respect showed himself deficient either in labor or diligence. His industry, however, was especially enjoyed by the Paray le Monial, in the prefecture of Charolles, which community he long served with the customary ministrations of the order. Finally, the prefect of the district, Marchio Ragne, upon being ordered by the king to lead troops into Campania against Ernest von Mansfeld,[47] who was threatening the frontiers of France, had selected Biard as his companion during the expedition, and as a minister of sacred rites. Upon that occasion one would doubt whether the charity of the apostolic man, or his patience, were the more remarkable. There was in the camp a great scarcity of provisions. Rations were so poorly furnished to the soldiers that some perished with hunger. Biard divided among the most needy of them, both his own allowance and whatever small sums of money he had collected by begging from the more wealthy, depriving himself of daily sustenance, that he might do a kindness to others. He had retired to Avignon, [iii] at last, that he might with a few days' leisure refresh his energies, which had been worn out by so many toils. But divining, as it were, that the end of all labors and of life was at hand, he spent all that period in disciplining his spirit by pious meditations among the novices; and, although an aged man who had served his time, so adapted himself to the earliest form of the novitiate, that he omitted none of those exercises by which beginners are educated to a contempt of themselves and of the world. While intent upon these, and already thinking of nothing but heavenly things, death seized him on the 17th day of November."

To these things it will perhaps not seem useless to add what has been written by an earlier author, namely, Philip Alegambe,[48] in the Bibliography of the Authors of the Society of Jesus, under the word Biard:

"PETER BIARD, a French citizen, born in Grenoble, a laborer of great zeal, and of very many laurels which [iv] he first gathered in the dreadful and pathless forests of the Canadian tribes of North America. Although suffering there every extremity, he still experienced nothing more brutal than the Heretics. The barbarous race, forgetting its savageness, was learning to venerate the character of this most righteous man; when, behold, Heresy, hostile to holiness and ignorant of God, burst, together with the English, upon the shores of Canada. The reward of a very laborious expedition was great,--to drive thence the hated Jesuit. For some time he was kept in bonds; and at last, stripped of everything, he was with difficulty restored to France. But meanwhile, until it was safe to return to the wilds of Canada, he took vengeance in a holy manner for the injury inflicted by the Heretics; during the rest of his life he sought with the greatest enthusiasm to win to life those by whom he had been devoted to death. He had formerly taught Theology at Lyons, not without commendation. On his return from the Military Mission, when he had turned aside to Avignon, and, making use of his opportunity, had retired into the Novitiate, in [v] almost the very beginning of his spiritual Exercises, he was called away to the contemplation of paradise, as we believe, on the 19th day of November, in the year 1622.

Besides a _Letter to R. P. General Commander from Port Royal_, and _An Account of the Expedition of the English against Canada_, Father Biard wrote _A Book Advocating the authority of the Pontiff_ against Martinet, a minister. In French, also, he published separately _An Account of New France and of the journey thither of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus_. Lyons, by L. Muguet, 1616, in 12mo."--[O'CALLAGHAN.]

[vii] Tabvla Rervm.
Pag.

_SOCIETAS Jesu, in Canadam, seu Novam Franciam inducta_ 5

II _Initium Canadicæ Missionis, & primi fructus_ 7

III _Domicilia Societatis & Missiones in Nova Francia_ 18

IV _Missio Canadensis ab Anglis proturbata_ 25

V _Unus è Societate interficitur; alii Canada ejiciuntur_ 27

VI _Missiones Societatis Jesu in America septentrionali, Anno 1710_
37

[vii] Table of Contents.

[_The page numbers refer to O'Callaghan's Reprint._]

Page.

_THE Society of Jesus introduced into Canada or New France_ 5

II _Beginning and first fruits of the Canadian Mission_ 7

III _Settlements and Missions of the Society in New France_ 18

IV _The Canadian Mission driven out by the English_ 25

V _One of the members of the Society is killed; the others are expelled
from Canada_ 27

VI _Missions of the Society of Jesus in North America, in the year
1710_ 37

Missionis Canadicæ Relatio.

[321 §. II.] SOCIETAS JESU, IN CANADAM, SEU NOVAM FRANCIAM INDUCTA.

AMERICAM septentrionalem tres præcipuè nationes obtinent, Hispani, Galli, & Angli. Mexicum, Floridæ pars & Californiæ, sunt Hispanæ ditionis. Littora orienti foli opposita & ad Austrum devexa occuparunt variis temporibus Angli, Sueci, & Hollandi. Quod inter illos & Mexicanos versus septentriones & occasum campi jacet, Galli tenent, ac Novam Franciam, sive Canadam, vulgo vocant. Nihil tetrius immaniusve barbaris Canadensibus fingi poterat, prius quam inducta religione mitescerent, ut patebit ex iis quæ Paragrapho decimo referentur. Nunc barbaries, & foeda scelerum cohors, rationi ac virtuti locum dedit, videturque huic oraculo [_Isai. c. 35._] veteri constare fides: _Lætabitur deserta & invia, & exultabit solitudo, & florebit quasi lilium._

An Account of the Canadian Mission.

[321 §. II.] THE SOCIETY OF JESUS INTRODUCED INTO CANADA, OR NEW FRANCE.

NORTH AMERICA is occupied principally by three nations--the Spanish, the French, and the English. Mexico, a part of Florida and of California, belongs to the Spanish dominions. The shores opposite to the rising sun, and stretching Southward, have been occupied at various times by the English, the Swedes, and the Dutch. The French possess the territory which lies between these and the Mexicans, towards the north and west, commonly called New France or Canada. Nothing fouler and more hideous than the savage Canadians could have been imagined, before they began to soften under the influence of religion, as will appear from matters to be presented in the tenth Paragraph. Now, barbarism and the vile array of sins have given place to reason and virtue, which seems to confirm our faith in this ancient prophecy: [_Isaiah, c. 35._] _The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice, and shall flourish like the lily._

INITIUM CANADICÆ MISSIONIS, & PRIMI FRUCTUS.