If, however, he does not appear to be in a dying condition by the time predicted, his friends and relatives even hasten his death by pouring jars of cold water over his stomach. Such is the piety of these servants of Satan. Thus, no doubt because he is always deceitful, the soothsayer never appears todeceive himself; although this lying race of prophets have lost much of their authority since the coming of the French, and now universally complain that their Devils have lost much of their power, [16] if compared with what it is said to have been in the time of their Ancestors. They so completely bury the very remembrance of the dead with their bodies that they will not even suffer their names to be mentioned afterwards. Of the one supremeGodthey have a certain slender notion, but they are so perverted by false ideas and by custom, that, as I have said, they really worship the Devil. To obtain the necessaries of life they endure cold and hunger in an extraordinary manner. During eight or ten days, if the necessity is imposed on them, they will follow the chase in fasting, and they hunt with the greatest ardor when the snow is deepest and the cold most severe. And yet these same Savages, the offspring, so to speak, of Boreas and the ice, when once they have returned with their booty and installed themselves in their tents, become indolent and unwilling to perform any labor whatever, imposing this entirely upon the women. The latter, besides the onerous rôle of bearing and rearing the children, also transport the game from the place where it has fallen; they are the hewers of wood and drawers of water; they make and repair the household utensils; they prepare food; they skin the game and prepare the hides like fullers; they sew garments; they catch fish and gather shellfish for food; often [17] they even hunt; they make the canoes, that is, skiffs of marvelous rapidity, out of bark; they set up the tents wherever and whenever they stop for the night—in short, the men concern themselves with nothing but the more laborious hunting and the waging of war. For this reasonalmost every one has several wives, and especially the Sagamores, since they cannot maintain their power and keep up the number of their dependents unless they have not only many children to inspire fear or conciliate favor, but also many slaves to perform patiently the menial tasks of every sort that are necessary. For their wives are regarded and treated as slaves. These Savages are extremely liberal toward each other; no one is willing to enjoy any good fortune by himself, but makes his friends sharers in the larger part of it; and whoever receives guests at what they call a Tabagie does not himself sit down with the others, but waits on them, and does not reserve any portion of the food for himself but distributes all; so that the host is constrained to suffer hunger during that day, unless some one of his guests takes pity on him [18] and gives him back a portion of what remains over from his own share. And they have often shown the same liberality toward the French, when they have found them in distress. For they have learned from us that, toward others than these, whether here or in the ships, nothing is readily given away. They hunt after the lice in their heads and regard them as a dainty. They are most importunate beggars and, after the fashion of beggars and needy people, they are hypocritical—contradicting, flattering and lying to achieve their ends. But when once they have gotten their fill they go off, mocking the French and everybody else at a distance and secretly laughing at everything, even the religion which they have received. They set up their tents easily and quickly in any place with branching stakes, which they cover either with bark or skins or even with mats. The fire is built in the middle. But this is enough, and more than enough,regarding the country and the people, especially as I send an accurate Map of the region, a single glance at which will make clear whatever I have said regarding the geography of land and sea.12
If, however, he does not appear to be in a dying condition by the time predicted, his friends and relatives even hasten his death by pouring jars of cold water over his stomach. Such is the piety of these servants of Satan. Thus, no doubt because he is always deceitful, the soothsayer never appears todeceive himself; although this lying race of prophets have lost much of their authority since the coming of the French, and now universally complain that their Devils have lost much of their power, [16] if compared with what it is said to have been in the time of their Ancestors. They so completely bury the very remembrance of the dead with their bodies that they will not even suffer their names to be mentioned afterwards. Of the one supremeGodthey have a certain slender notion, but they are so perverted by false ideas and by custom, that, as I have said, they really worship the Devil. To obtain the necessaries of life they endure cold and hunger in an extraordinary manner. During eight or ten days, if the necessity is imposed on them, they will follow the chase in fasting, and they hunt with the greatest ardor when the snow is deepest and the cold most severe. And yet these same Savages, the offspring, so to speak, of Boreas and the ice, when once they have returned with their booty and installed themselves in their tents, become indolent and unwilling to perform any labor whatever, imposing this entirely upon the women. The latter, besides the onerous rôle of bearing and rearing the children, also transport the game from the place where it has fallen; they are the hewers of wood and drawers of water; they make and repair the household utensils; they prepare food; they skin the game and prepare the hides like fullers; they sew garments; they catch fish and gather shellfish for food; often [17] they even hunt; they make the canoes, that is, skiffs of marvelous rapidity, out of bark; they set up the tents wherever and whenever they stop for the night—in short, the men concern themselves with nothing but the more laborious hunting and the waging of war. For this reasonalmost every one has several wives, and especially the Sagamores, since they cannot maintain their power and keep up the number of their dependents unless they have not only many children to inspire fear or conciliate favor, but also many slaves to perform patiently the menial tasks of every sort that are necessary. For their wives are regarded and treated as slaves. These Savages are extremely liberal toward each other; no one is willing to enjoy any good fortune by himself, but makes his friends sharers in the larger part of it; and whoever receives guests at what they call a Tabagie does not himself sit down with the others, but waits on them, and does not reserve any portion of the food for himself but distributes all; so that the host is constrained to suffer hunger during that day, unless some one of his guests takes pity on him [18] and gives him back a portion of what remains over from his own share. And they have often shown the same liberality toward the French, when they have found them in distress. For they have learned from us that, toward others than these, whether here or in the ships, nothing is readily given away. They hunt after the lice in their heads and regard them as a dainty. They are most importunate beggars and, after the fashion of beggars and needy people, they are hypocritical—contradicting, flattering and lying to achieve their ends. But when once they have gotten their fill they go off, mocking the French and everybody else at a distance and secretly laughing at everything, even the religion which they have received. They set up their tents easily and quickly in any place with branching stakes, which they cover either with bark or skins or even with mats. The fire is built in the middle. But this is enough, and more than enough,regarding the country and the people, especially as I send an accurate Map of the region, a single glance at which will make clear whatever I have said regarding the geography of land and sea.12
Nvncad id venio, quod secundo loco proposui, vt scilicet explicem, quanam tandem via Societas missionem in hanc prouinciam obtinuerit. Et quidem nostri [19] Burdigalenses pro suo animarum zelo à multis retro annis huc respectârant, huc intenderant, vt miseræ nationi opem ferrent: sed pios eorum & ardentes conatus, quos periculi facies non terreret, diu subsidiorum ad agendum inopia frustrata est. Restituta demum in Galliam Societate, agere seriò per P. Cotonum cum Magno Henrico cœperunt, sibi vt liceret in his quoque regionibus laborare, & amplexus est Rex Societatis amans tam piam & propensam voluntatem, sed nihilominus tamen vtilibus consilijs longa adhuc & odiosa mora interuenit. Nulli adhuc Galli regionem incolebant, commorandi animo, & qui antè à Rege missus fuerat, explorandi tentandíque caussâ, alienus à sacris nostris erat, & ijs postmodum rebus, non solùm infectis, sed etiam prope desperatis domum in Galliam redijt: iussit tamen Princeps inuictus ne desponderemus animum, mittendi solùm destinarentur, moniturum se cùm maturum foret; atque adeò vt arrha quædam esset sponsionis, pecuniam ex eo tēpore in [20] viaticum assignauit.82Sed hæc agentibus, ecce pij Regis funesta mors intercedit. Nō defuitDevssub idem anni tempus: ad nouum regem nuntij rediêrunt ab eo, qui anno superiore in has sibi terras coloniā depoposcerat.
Nvncad id venio, quod secundo loco proposui, vt scilicet explicem, quanam tandem via Societas missionem in hanc prouinciam obtinuerit. Et quidem nostri [19] Burdigalenses pro suo animarum zelo à multis retro annis huc respectârant, huc intenderant, vt miseræ nationi opem ferrent: sed pios eorum & ardentes conatus, quos periculi facies non terreret, diu subsidiorum ad agendum inopia frustrata est. Restituta demum in Galliam Societate, agere seriò per P. Cotonum cum Magno Henrico cœperunt, sibi vt liceret in his quoque regionibus laborare, & amplexus est Rex Societatis amans tam piam & propensam voluntatem, sed nihilominus tamen vtilibus consilijs longa adhuc & odiosa mora interuenit. Nulli adhuc Galli regionem incolebant, commorandi animo, & qui antè à Rege missus fuerat, explorandi tentandíque caussâ, alienus à sacris nostris erat, & ijs postmodum rebus, non solùm infectis, sed etiam prope desperatis domum in Galliam redijt: iussit tamen Princeps inuictus ne desponderemus animum, mittendi solùm destinarentur, moniturum se cùm maturum foret; atque adeò vt arrha quædam esset sponsionis, pecuniam ex eo tēpore in [20] viaticum assignauit.82Sed hæc agentibus, ecce pij Regis funesta mors intercedit. Nō defuitDevssub idem anni tempus: ad nouum regem nuntij rediêrunt ab eo, qui anno superiore in has sibi terras coloniā depoposcerat.
Now I shall enter upon my second topic and explain by what means the Society finally secured the sending of a mission to this province. It is true that our adherents at [19] Bordeaux, in their zeal for the saving of souls, had looked forward to this, and had aimed at this for many years back, namely, at bringing help to this wretched race. But their pious and ardent efforts, which recoiled before no danger, were long frustrated by lack of means for prosecuting them. When our Society was at last re-admitted into France, they began to negotiate in earnest with Henry the Great, through Father Coton, to obtain permission to labor in these regions also, and the King, so full of good-will toward our Society, espoused this pious and important project; but, nevertheless, the taking of active steps was preceded by a long and vexatious delay. No Frenchmen as yet inhabited this region with the purpose of settling here, and such as had been sent by the King as explorers and in a tentative way, being indifferent to our holy aims, had soon returned to France, leaving these things not only unaccomplished but even almost hopeless. But our Prince, undeterred by these considerations, bade us be of good heart, and promised, if we would but designate those who were to be sent, that he would let us know when he deemed the time opportune; and, as an earnest of his promise, from that time forward he assigned to us a sum of money for the [20] voyage. But at this point, unhappily, occurred the tragic death of the King. Yet at this very seasonGodcame to our help. Some messengerscame to the new king from the man who last year solicited the royal permission to found a colony in this country.
Now I shall enter upon my second topic and explain by what means the Society finally secured the sending of a mission to this province. It is true that our adherents at [19] Bordeaux, in their zeal for the saving of souls, had looked forward to this, and had aimed at this for many years back, namely, at bringing help to this wretched race. But their pious and ardent efforts, which recoiled before no danger, were long frustrated by lack of means for prosecuting them. When our Society was at last re-admitted into France, they began to negotiate in earnest with Henry the Great, through Father Coton, to obtain permission to labor in these regions also, and the King, so full of good-will toward our Society, espoused this pious and important project; but, nevertheless, the taking of active steps was preceded by a long and vexatious delay. No Frenchmen as yet inhabited this region with the purpose of settling here, and such as had been sent by the King as explorers and in a tentative way, being indifferent to our holy aims, had soon returned to France, leaving these things not only unaccomplished but even almost hopeless. But our Prince, undeterred by these considerations, bade us be of good heart, and promised, if we would but designate those who were to be sent, that he would let us know when he deemed the time opportune; and, as an earnest of his promise, from that time forward he assigned to us a sum of money for the [20] voyage. But at this point, unhappily, occurred the tragic death of the King. Yet at this very seasonGodcame to our help. Some messengerscame to the new king from the man who last year solicited the royal permission to found a colony in this country.
Is est Ioannes Biencurtius, vulgò Potrincurtius, nobilis & magni animi vir. Ergo accepta occasione agitur cum Regina Regente Maria Medicæa, maximæ pietatis heroina, vt quæ maritus tanta virtute destinâsset, per eam efficerentur, daretur locus duobus è Nostris in eâ naui, quæ proximè huc esset ventura. Annuit Regina, munificéque respondit desiderio. Ergo statim ex Aquitania euocatus Sacerdos vnus, alter ex ipsa Francia desumptus. Sed ecce rursum moras, rursum sese Sathanas excitat. Dieppâ erat soluendum, & ea nauis, quæ huc vela faciebat ita erat mercatoribus Hæreticis obnoxia, vt sine ipsis commouere se non posset. Ergo ij simul ac Nostros vident, negant enimuerò præcisè sese passuros, vt rudens expediatur, si Iesuitæ nauigaturi sint. Obtenditur [21] Reginæ imperium, interponitur etiam Gubernatoris auctoritas. Itur, reditúrque ad Reginam, & ab ea literæ, mandatáque afferuntur, sed obstinationem hæreticam, vt Ecclesiæ, ita nec Regum frangit aut permouet auctoritas. Hæc peruicacia benignissimorum Principum illustriorē pietatam fecit. Namque Antonia Pontia Marchionissa Guercheuilia matrona clarissima, & vt appellant, filiarum Reginæ gubernatrix, vbi has tricas audijt, pro suo inDevm& Societatem amore, non dubitauit à maximis quibusqʒ84totius curiæ eleemosynam petere eo nomine, vt victâ hæreticorum contumaciâ Iesuitis liceret in has terras proficisci. Nec difficile ei fuit, in pia caussa suapte sponte propensam Catholicorum Principum benignitatem allicere: breui summa confecta est librarum quatuor millium. Ea & hæreticorum repulit iniquitatem, & Nostros in nauim non iam vt hospites, sed vt magna ex parte Dominos, potentésqʒ imposuit. Ita nimirum Christus, vt solet, per hostium impugnationem cōfirmauit suos, [22] per iniquitatem auxilijs necessarijs instruxit, & per machinationes, atque opprobria è tenebris atque ignobilitate vindicauit: ipsi gloria in sæcula. Amen.
Is est Ioannes Biencurtius, vulgò Potrincurtius, nobilis & magni animi vir. Ergo accepta occasione agitur cum Regina Regente Maria Medicæa, maximæ pietatis heroina, vt quæ maritus tanta virtute destinâsset, per eam efficerentur, daretur locus duobus è Nostris in eâ naui, quæ proximè huc esset ventura. Annuit Regina, munificéque respondit desiderio. Ergo statim ex Aquitania euocatus Sacerdos vnus, alter ex ipsa Francia desumptus. Sed ecce rursum moras, rursum sese Sathanas excitat. Dieppâ erat soluendum, & ea nauis, quæ huc vela faciebat ita erat mercatoribus Hæreticis obnoxia, vt sine ipsis commouere se non posset. Ergo ij simul ac Nostros vident, negant enimuerò præcisè sese passuros, vt rudens expediatur, si Iesuitæ nauigaturi sint. Obtenditur [21] Reginæ imperium, interponitur etiam Gubernatoris auctoritas. Itur, reditúrque ad Reginam, & ab ea literæ, mandatáque afferuntur, sed obstinationem hæreticam, vt Ecclesiæ, ita nec Regum frangit aut permouet auctoritas. Hæc peruicacia benignissimorum Principum illustriorē pietatam fecit. Namque Antonia Pontia Marchionissa Guercheuilia matrona clarissima, & vt appellant, filiarum Reginæ gubernatrix, vbi has tricas audijt, pro suo inDevm& Societatem amore, non dubitauit à maximis quibusqʒ84totius curiæ eleemosynam petere eo nomine, vt victâ hæreticorum contumaciâ Iesuitis liceret in has terras proficisci. Nec difficile ei fuit, in pia caussa suapte sponte propensam Catholicorum Principum benignitatem allicere: breui summa confecta est librarum quatuor millium. Ea & hæreticorum repulit iniquitatem, & Nostros in nauim non iam vt hospites, sed vt magna ex parte Dominos, potentésqʒ imposuit. Ita nimirum Christus, vt solet, per hostium impugnationem cōfirmauit suos, [22] per iniquitatem auxilijs necessarijs instruxit, & per machinationes, atque opprobria è tenebris atque ignobilitate vindicauit: ipsi gloria in sæcula. Amen.
This man is Jean Biencourt, commonly called Potrincourt, of noble birth and a magnanimous man. Accordingly, seizing this opportunity, we made overtures to the Queen Regent, Marie de Médicis, that most pious and exalted lady, begging her to execute what her husband had so piously purposed by giving a place to two of our Fathers in the ship which was to sail shortly for this place. The Queen assented, and responded to our request most liberally. Accordingly one Priest was immediately summoned from Aquitaine, and another was chosen in France. But lo! Satan rouses himself again, and again interposes new delay. We were to sail from Dieppe, but the ship that was to bear us to this country was so completely under the influence of Heretical merchants that it could not stir without their consent. Accordingly, as soon as they saw our Priests they refused outright to let the ship sail if the Jesuits were to embark in it. The order of the [21] Queen was alleged, and the authority of the Governor was interposed. Recourse was had to the Queen, and letters and orders were obtained from her; but even Royal authority is, like that of the Church, unable to break or bend heretical obstinacy. This stubborn resistance lent all the more lustre to the piety of our benignant Rulers. For Antoinette de Pons, Marchioness de Guercheville, a most illustrious lady, and governess to the daughters of the Queen, on learning these petty hindrances did not hesitate, in her love forGodand for our Society, to ask in his name for aid from some of the greatest men in the council of this realm, that the contumacy of the heretics mightbe subdued and the Jesuits permitted to sail to this land. Nor did she have any difficulty in gaining the good-will of the Catholic Princes, inclined of their own accord to sympathize with this holy cause; in a word, the sum of four thousand livres was collected. This not only put an end to the iniquitous resistance of the heretics, but gave our Priests the influence of Masters rather than of mere passengers in the ship. Thus, no doubt Christ, as usual, has strengthened his own followers through the attacks of enemies; [22] through their iniquity he has furnished aid to his own children and protected them from the darkness and the baseness of their foes, even through their intrigues and insult; his be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
This man is Jean Biencourt, commonly called Potrincourt, of noble birth and a magnanimous man. Accordingly, seizing this opportunity, we made overtures to the Queen Regent, Marie de Médicis, that most pious and exalted lady, begging her to execute what her husband had so piously purposed by giving a place to two of our Fathers in the ship which was to sail shortly for this place. The Queen assented, and responded to our request most liberally. Accordingly one Priest was immediately summoned from Aquitaine, and another was chosen in France. But lo! Satan rouses himself again, and again interposes new delay. We were to sail from Dieppe, but the ship that was to bear us to this country was so completely under the influence of Heretical merchants that it could not stir without their consent. Accordingly, as soon as they saw our Priests they refused outright to let the ship sail if the Jesuits were to embark in it. The order of the [21] Queen was alleged, and the authority of the Governor was interposed. Recourse was had to the Queen, and letters and orders were obtained from her; but even Royal authority is, like that of the Church, unable to break or bend heretical obstinacy. This stubborn resistance lent all the more lustre to the piety of our benignant Rulers. For Antoinette de Pons, Marchioness de Guercheville, a most illustrious lady, and governess to the daughters of the Queen, on learning these petty hindrances did not hesitate, in her love forGodand for our Society, to ask in his name for aid from some of the greatest men in the council of this realm, that the contumacy of the heretics mightbe subdued and the Jesuits permitted to sail to this land. Nor did she have any difficulty in gaining the good-will of the Catholic Princes, inclined of their own accord to sympathize with this holy cause; in a word, the sum of four thousand livres was collected. This not only put an end to the iniquitous resistance of the heretics, but gave our Priests the influence of Masters rather than of mere passengers in the ship. Thus, no doubt Christ, as usual, has strengthened his own followers through the attacks of enemies; [22] through their iniquity he has furnished aid to his own children and protected them from the darkness and the baseness of their foes, even through their intrigues and insult; his be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Dieppâ soluimus incommodissimo tempore, vigesimo sexto Ianuarij Anni huiusCIↃ.IↃD.XI. Nauis erat non magna, & haud satis instructa, nautæ ex magna parte hæretici; & vt hyeme in procelloso mari, multis grauissimísqʒ tempestatibus perfuncti sumus, tenuítqʒ nauigatio menses ipsos quatuor. Ex quibus apparet, quàm multa omnis generis perferenda fuerint. Certè alter nostrûm magnam itineris partem æger, debilitatúsque iacuit. Conati tamen sumus consueta Societatis munia exhibere. Manè ac vespere ad orationem vectores conuocabantur quotidie: festis etiam officia quædam Ecclesiastica decantabantur; sæpe habebantur cohortationes piæ, interdum nonnullæ cum hæreticis disputationes: iurandi cōsuetudo & verborū lasciuia reprimebatur. Non omittebantur multa simul humilitatis, simul charitatis exempla.
Dieppâ soluimus incommodissimo tempore, vigesimo sexto Ianuarij Anni huiusCIↃ.IↃD.XI. Nauis erat non magna, & haud satis instructa, nautæ ex magna parte hæretici; & vt hyeme in procelloso mari, multis grauissimísqʒ tempestatibus perfuncti sumus, tenuítqʒ nauigatio menses ipsos quatuor. Ex quibus apparet, quàm multa omnis generis perferenda fuerint. Certè alter nostrûm magnam itineris partem æger, debilitatúsque iacuit. Conati tamen sumus consueta Societatis munia exhibere. Manè ac vespere ad orationem vectores conuocabantur quotidie: festis etiam officia quædam Ecclesiastica decantabantur; sæpe habebantur cohortationes piæ, interdum nonnullæ cum hæreticis disputationes: iurandi cōsuetudo & verborū lasciuia reprimebatur. Non omittebantur multa simul humilitatis, simul charitatis exempla.
We sailed from Dieppe in a most unfavorable season, on the 26th of January, of this year 1611. The ship was not large and was insufficiently equipped; the sailors were mostly heretics. As it was winter and the sea was stormy, we encountered many severe tempests and the voyage lasted four whole months, from which it is apparent how many sufferings of every kind we underwent. Indeed, during the greater portion of the voyage one or the other of us lay sick and debilitated. Yet we attempted to discharge the usual duties, of our Society. Morning and evening, every day, the passengers were called together for prayer; on holidays certain Ecclesiastical services were held, pious exhortations were frequently made, and sometimes disputations with the heretics took place. The habit of swearing and using obscene language was repressed. Nor were there wanting many examples of humility and of charity.
We sailed from Dieppe in a most unfavorable season, on the 26th of January, of this year 1611. The ship was not large and was insufficiently equipped; the sailors were mostly heretics. As it was winter and the sea was stormy, we encountered many severe tempests and the voyage lasted four whole months, from which it is apparent how many sufferings of every kind we underwent. Indeed, during the greater portion of the voyage one or the other of us lay sick and debilitated. Yet we attempted to discharge the usual duties, of our Society. Morning and evening, every day, the passengers were called together for prayer; on holidays certain Ecclesiastical services were held, pious exhortations were frequently made, and sometimes disputations with the heretics took place. The habit of swearing and using obscene language was repressed. Nor were there wanting many examples of humility and of charity.
86[23] Denique illudDeibeneficio obtentum est, vt Hæretici, qui nos antè velut monstra è suorū videlicet ore Ministrorum reputabant, non solùm agnouerint suorum in hac re impostorum malitiam, sed etiam multis postea locis laudum nostrarum prædicatores extiterint; hic ergo summatim fuit noster in has terras ingressus.
86[23] Denique illudDeibeneficio obtentum est, vt Hæretici, qui nos antè velut monstra è suorū videlicet ore Ministrorum reputabant, non solùm agnouerint suorum in hac re impostorum malitiam, sed etiam multis postea locis laudum nostrarum prædicatores extiterint; hic ergo summatim fuit noster in has terras ingressus.
[23] Finally, withGod'sblessing, we brought the Heretics, who, evidently through the preaching oftheir own Pastors, regarded us as monsters, to recognize the malice of these impostors in this matter, so that they afterwards on many occasions stood up to proclaim our praises. Such, in brief, was our voyage to this land.
[23] Finally, withGod'sblessing, we brought the Heretics, who, evidently through the preaching oftheir own Pastors, regarded us as monsters, to recognize the malice of these impostors in this matter, so that they afterwards on many occasions stood up to proclaim our praises. Such, in brief, was our voyage to this land.
Seqvitvriam ex initio propositis tertium, nimirum vt exponatur, quonam tandē loco rem Christianam his in locis offenderimus. Certé ante hoc tempus vix vnquam à Gallis vacatum fuit conuertēdis incolarum ad Christum animis. Obstabant multa. Nam & peregrinabantur huc tantùm, non cōmorabantur: & qui commorari voluerunt, tam aduersis conflictati sunt casibus, vt ei rei dare operam sanè multam non potuerint. Deuehebantur duntaxat interdum nonnulli in Galliam, ibíq; baptizabantur, sed ijdem vt nec satis instituti, & à pastoribus destituti, simul ac in has oras remigrauerant, ad solita prorsus & vsitata reuoluebantur. Appulimus huc nos [24] vigesimâ secundâ Maij, ipso sacro Pentecostes die, anni huiusCIↃ.IↃC.XI.Quo duntaxat anno is, quem sæpius appellare necesse est, D. Potrincurtius ad sedes hîc domiciliúmqʒ figendum peruenerat, secúmqʒ Sacerdotem sæcularem aduexerat. Is Sacerdos per eum annum dicitur capita ferè centum baptimo initiauisse; in his celebrem inter Sagamos, & de quo nos infra plura dicemus, Henricum Membertou cum familia vniuersa, hoc est cum tribus liberis iam cōiugibus.88Sed, vt fit, cùm nec Sacerdos ipse, nec alius quisquam linguam nôsset, nisi quātum attinet ad vitæ & mercimoniorum necessitatem, erudiri videlicet neophyti non potuerunt.
Seqvitvriam ex initio propositis tertium, nimirum vt exponatur, quonam tandē loco rem Christianam his in locis offenderimus. Certé ante hoc tempus vix vnquam à Gallis vacatum fuit conuertēdis incolarum ad Christum animis. Obstabant multa. Nam & peregrinabantur huc tantùm, non cōmorabantur: & qui commorari voluerunt, tam aduersis conflictati sunt casibus, vt ei rei dare operam sanè multam non potuerint. Deuehebantur duntaxat interdum nonnulli in Galliam, ibíq; baptizabantur, sed ijdem vt nec satis instituti, & à pastoribus destituti, simul ac in has oras remigrauerant, ad solita prorsus & vsitata reuoluebantur. Appulimus huc nos [24] vigesimâ secundâ Maij, ipso sacro Pentecostes die, anni huiusCIↃ.IↃC.XI.Quo duntaxat anno is, quem sæpius appellare necesse est, D. Potrincurtius ad sedes hîc domiciliúmqʒ figendum peruenerat, secúmqʒ Sacerdotem sæcularem aduexerat. Is Sacerdos per eum annum dicitur capita ferè centum baptimo initiauisse; in his celebrem inter Sagamos, & de quo nos infra plura dicemus, Henricum Membertou cum familia vniuersa, hoc est cum tribus liberis iam cōiugibus.88Sed, vt fit, cùm nec Sacerdos ipse, nec alius quisquam linguam nôsset, nisi quātum attinet ad vitæ & mercimoniorum necessitatem, erudiri videlicet neophyti non potuerunt.
Now followsthe third of the topics proposed in the beginning—the setting forth, namely, of the condition in which we found the Christian religion in this country. Certainly before this time scarcely any attention has ever been given by the French to converting the souls of the natives to Christ. There have been many obstacles. For the French only wandered through these regions, but did not remain here, and those who wished to remain were harassed by so many calamities that they assuredly could not give much thought to this matter. Some natives, it is true, were occasionally brought to France and baptized there, but these not being sufficiently instructed, and finding themselves without shepherds as soon as they returned to these shores, immediately resumed their former habits and traditions. We landed here [24] on the 22nd of May, on the holyday of Pentecost of this year 1611. In this very same year Sieur Potrincourt, whom I shall have occasion to mention several times, had come here to establish himself permanently, and had brought a secular Priest with him. This Priest, it is said, baptized nearly a hundred persons during the year, among them one of the most celebrated of the Chiefs, of whom we shall have to speak again later, Henry Membertou, with his whole family, that is, three children already married. But, since neither this Priest nor any one else knew their language, save so far as pertains to the merest necessities of intercourseand trade, the neophytes could of course not be instructed in our doctrines.
Now followsthe third of the topics proposed in the beginning—the setting forth, namely, of the condition in which we found the Christian religion in this country. Certainly before this time scarcely any attention has ever been given by the French to converting the souls of the natives to Christ. There have been many obstacles. For the French only wandered through these regions, but did not remain here, and those who wished to remain were harassed by so many calamities that they assuredly could not give much thought to this matter. Some natives, it is true, were occasionally brought to France and baptized there, but these not being sufficiently instructed, and finding themselves without shepherds as soon as they returned to these shores, immediately resumed their former habits and traditions. We landed here [24] on the 22nd of May, on the holyday of Pentecost of this year 1611. In this very same year Sieur Potrincourt, whom I shall have occasion to mention several times, had come here to establish himself permanently, and had brought a secular Priest with him. This Priest, it is said, baptized nearly a hundred persons during the year, among them one of the most celebrated of the Chiefs, of whom we shall have to speak again later, Henry Membertou, with his whole family, that is, three children already married. But, since neither this Priest nor any one else knew their language, save so far as pertains to the merest necessities of intercourseand trade, the neophytes could of course not be instructed in our doctrines.
Baptismum accipiebant velut sacrum aliquod signum similitudinis & confœderationis cum Gallis. De Christo, de Ecclesia, de Fide ac Symbolo, mandatisDei, oratione ac Sacramentis vix quidquam nouerant, ignari & crucis efformandæ, & ipsius nominis Christiani. Itaque nunc vulgò sciscitantibus nobis, Christianus es? negat optimus quisque, [25] scire se quid rogetur. Mutata interrogatione quærentibus, baptizatus es? Annuit vero ac propemodum sese iam Nortmannum pronuntiat; nam Gallos ferè omnes Nortmannos appellitant. De cætero nulla omnino in Christianis à Gentilium ritu mutatio. Iidem mores, consuetudo & vita, idem chorearum, rituum, cantuum, atque adeò veneficiorum vsus, prorsus antiqua omnia. De vnoDeo& bonorum retributione docti sunt aliqua, sed quæ se ipsi semper ita audiuisse & credidisse profiteantur. Sacellum reperimus vnum valde angustum & miserum, sed nec profectò reliqua habitatio, vt in principijs, aut valde laxa aut commoda est.
Baptismum accipiebant velut sacrum aliquod signum similitudinis & confœderationis cum Gallis. De Christo, de Ecclesia, de Fide ac Symbolo, mandatisDei, oratione ac Sacramentis vix quidquam nouerant, ignari & crucis efformandæ, & ipsius nominis Christiani. Itaque nunc vulgò sciscitantibus nobis, Christianus es? negat optimus quisque, [25] scire se quid rogetur. Mutata interrogatione quærentibus, baptizatus es? Annuit vero ac propemodum sese iam Nortmannum pronuntiat; nam Gallos ferè omnes Nortmannos appellitant. De cætero nulla omnino in Christianis à Gentilium ritu mutatio. Iidem mores, consuetudo & vita, idem chorearum, rituum, cantuum, atque adeò veneficiorum vsus, prorsus antiqua omnia. De vnoDeo& bonorum retributione docti sunt aliqua, sed quæ se ipsi semper ita audiuisse & credidisse profiteantur. Sacellum reperimus vnum valde angustum & miserum, sed nec profectò reliqua habitatio, vt in principijs, aut valde laxa aut commoda est.
They accepted baptism as a sort of sacred pledge of friendship and alliance with the French. As regards Christ, the Church, the Faith and the Symbol, the commandments ofGod, prayer and the Sacraments, they knew almost nothing; nor did they know the sign of the cross or the very name of Christian. So, even now, whenever we ask any one, "Are you a Christian?" every one of them answers that he does not understand what [25] we are asking him. But when we change the form of our question and ask, "Are you baptized?" he assents and declares himself to be already almost a Norman, for they call the French in general Normans. In other respects there is almost no change from the religion of the Gentiles to Christianity. They keep up the same manners and traditions and mode of life, the same dances and rites and songs and sorcery; in fact, all their previous customs. Concerning the oneGodand the reward of the just, they have learned some things, but they declare that they had always heard and believed thus. We found one little chapel here, a very small and poor one, but the other dwellings also, as is to be expected among new settlers, are by no means large or commodious.
They accepted baptism as a sort of sacred pledge of friendship and alliance with the French. As regards Christ, the Church, the Faith and the Symbol, the commandments ofGod, prayer and the Sacraments, they knew almost nothing; nor did they know the sign of the cross or the very name of Christian. So, even now, whenever we ask any one, "Are you a Christian?" every one of them answers that he does not understand what [25] we are asking him. But when we change the form of our question and ask, "Are you baptized?" he assents and declares himself to be already almost a Norman, for they call the French in general Normans. In other respects there is almost no change from the religion of the Gentiles to Christianity. They keep up the same manners and traditions and mode of life, the same dances and rites and songs and sorcery; in fact, all their previous customs. Concerning the oneGodand the reward of the just, they have learned some things, but they declare that they had always heard and believed thus. We found one little chapel here, a very small and poor one, but the other dwellings also, as is to be expected among new settlers, are by no means large or commodious.
Vnica hîc adest D. Potrincurtij familia, sine feminis capita sumus viginti. Nos duo é Societate tuguriolum habemus ligneum, in quo vix positâ mensâ commouere nos possumus. Et reliqua sunt huic certè habitationi ac nostræ professioni, hoc est, paupertati90cōsentanea. Vtinam ab humilibus principijs exurgat aliquādo, & efflorescat salus animorum; [26] huc incumbimus, sed vt languidi cultores non magno successu, qualis tamen, quantúsque is fuerit, hoc mihi iam narrandum est, quoniam id iam explicui, quod tertium erat ex propositis, videlicet quonam in statu vineam hanc seu potiùs virgultum offenderimus.
Vnica hîc adest D. Potrincurtij familia, sine feminis capita sumus viginti. Nos duo é Societate tuguriolum habemus ligneum, in quo vix positâ mensâ commouere nos possumus. Et reliqua sunt huic certè habitationi ac nostræ professioni, hoc est, paupertati90cōsentanea. Vtinam ab humilibus principijs exurgat aliquādo, & efflorescat salus animorum; [26] huc incumbimus, sed vt languidi cultores non magno successu, qualis tamen, quantúsque is fuerit, hoc mihi iam narrandum est, quoniam id iam explicui, quod tertium erat ex propositis, videlicet quonam in statu vineam hanc seu potiùs virgultum offenderimus.
Sieur Potrincourt's family is the only one here; without the women we number twenty. We two of the Society have a wooden cabin in which we can scarcely turn around when we have a table in it. And everything else is certainly in keeping with our dwelling and our vocation in life, that is, poverty. God grant that from these humble beginnings may rise and greatly flourish the work of salvation; [26] to this we bend all our efforts, though, as we are butfeeble workers, with no great success. What the nature and extent of this success has been I must now relate, since I have already treated my third topic, namely, the description of the state in which we found this vineyard, or rather this wildwood.
Sieur Potrincourt's family is the only one here; without the women we number twenty. We two of the Society have a wooden cabin in which we can scarcely turn around when we have a table in it. And everything else is certainly in keeping with our dwelling and our vocation in life, that is, poverty. God grant that from these humble beginnings may rise and greatly flourish the work of salvation; [26] to this we bend all our efforts, though, as we are butfeeble workers, with no great success. What the nature and extent of this success has been I must now relate, since I have already treated my third topic, namely, the description of the state in which we found this vineyard, or rather this wildwood.
Pervenimvshuc (sicut antè numeratum est) vigesimâ secundâ Maij. Itaque non multo plus hodie, quàm septem menses hic commorati sumus. Per hoc igitur tempus, & domi aliqua gesta sunt, & foris. Domi primùm dedimus operam, vt pro nostris viribus officium Ecclesiasticum ne deesset. Nam Sacerdos ille, qui huc ante nos aduenerat, à nostro statim aduētu in Galliam sua ipse sponte & pro veteri desiderio remigrauit. Dominicis festísque diebus solemnem missam & vesperas decantamus, cohortamur, & nonnunquam procedimus, ipsis etiam nostrorum siluicolarum pueris cereos, vrceos, aut aliud quid pium, quando hîc adsunt, præferentibus. Ita enim paulatim nostris ceremonijs assuescunt. Solemnior ea processio fuit, qua [27] sanctissimum Sacramentum festo ipsi die cumtulimus. Ipse enim D. Potrincurtius sedulitatem in eo nostram collaudauit, sicut & in sacello, quantum potest, in tanta paupertate coornando. Et quoniam animaduertimus eos, qui antè baptizati essent, vix aliud quidquam cum baptismate, nisi periculum maius suscepisse, prolectationem illam proiectionémqʒ ad baptisma quomodocumqʒ offerendum92reiecimus, in eóque perstamus, ne quis adultus ante necessariam suæ fidei professionísque cognitionem initietur. Ita cùm adhuc ignari linguæ simus, neque per vllum interpretem enuntiare sacra nostra, aut scriptis mandare potuerimus, quantacumque in eo sit opera, vti sanè posita est plurima cursus nimirum Euangelij in his hactenus hæret vadis ac syrtibus. Id suademus, vt infantes ad nos lustrandi afferantur, quod etiamDeibeneficio iam cœpit fieri. Duos baptizauimus, & tertiam puellam circiter nouennem. Hæc puella non magis morbo, quàm esurie neglectúque contabescebat; solet enim hæc natio facilè desperare medicinam, [28] & desperatos prorsum abijcere, vt antè dictum est. Ergo hanc ita depositam à cognatis deposcimus ad baptismum, illi verò perlibenter eam nobis concedere, non ad baptismum solùm, sed etiam ad voluntatem, vt quæ, inquiebant, instar iam esset canis mortui. At nos, vt specimen daremus Christianæ pietatis, in separatum eam transtulimus tuguriolum, ibíqʒ eam aluimus & curauimus ipsi sedulò, institutámque quantum extremo periculo conflictanti necesse esset, abluimus aquâ salutari. Nono demum pòst die abeuntem ad superos læta spe sumus prosecuti, cùm gauderemus cœlo iam nonnihil nostri laboris placere. Lætior exitus in alio fuit, sed exemplum non dissimile charitatis: hic est, secundò genitus celebris illius Sagami Membertou, quem antè diximus primū omnium Soricorum nostra sacra suscepisse.
Pervenimvshuc (sicut antè numeratum est) vigesimâ secundâ Maij. Itaque non multo plus hodie, quàm septem menses hic commorati sumus. Per hoc igitur tempus, & domi aliqua gesta sunt, & foris. Domi primùm dedimus operam, vt pro nostris viribus officium Ecclesiasticum ne deesset. Nam Sacerdos ille, qui huc ante nos aduenerat, à nostro statim aduētu in Galliam sua ipse sponte & pro veteri desiderio remigrauit. Dominicis festísque diebus solemnem missam & vesperas decantamus, cohortamur, & nonnunquam procedimus, ipsis etiam nostrorum siluicolarum pueris cereos, vrceos, aut aliud quid pium, quando hîc adsunt, præferentibus. Ita enim paulatim nostris ceremonijs assuescunt. Solemnior ea processio fuit, qua [27] sanctissimum Sacramentum festo ipsi die cumtulimus. Ipse enim D. Potrincurtius sedulitatem in eo nostram collaudauit, sicut & in sacello, quantum potest, in tanta paupertate coornando. Et quoniam animaduertimus eos, qui antè baptizati essent, vix aliud quidquam cum baptismate, nisi periculum maius suscepisse, prolectationem illam proiectionémqʒ ad baptisma quomodocumqʒ offerendum92reiecimus, in eóque perstamus, ne quis adultus ante necessariam suæ fidei professionísque cognitionem initietur. Ita cùm adhuc ignari linguæ simus, neque per vllum interpretem enuntiare sacra nostra, aut scriptis mandare potuerimus, quantacumque in eo sit opera, vti sanè posita est plurima cursus nimirum Euangelij in his hactenus hæret vadis ac syrtibus. Id suademus, vt infantes ad nos lustrandi afferantur, quod etiamDeibeneficio iam cœpit fieri. Duos baptizauimus, & tertiam puellam circiter nouennem. Hæc puella non magis morbo, quàm esurie neglectúque contabescebat; solet enim hæc natio facilè desperare medicinam, [28] & desperatos prorsum abijcere, vt antè dictum est. Ergo hanc ita depositam à cognatis deposcimus ad baptismum, illi verò perlibenter eam nobis concedere, non ad baptismum solùm, sed etiam ad voluntatem, vt quæ, inquiebant, instar iam esset canis mortui. At nos, vt specimen daremus Christianæ pietatis, in separatum eam transtulimus tuguriolum, ibíqʒ eam aluimus & curauimus ipsi sedulò, institutámque quantum extremo periculo conflictanti necesse esset, abluimus aquâ salutari. Nono demum pòst die abeuntem ad superos læta spe sumus prosecuti, cùm gauderemus cœlo iam nonnihil nostri laboris placere. Lætior exitus in alio fuit, sed exemplum non dissimile charitatis: hic est, secundò genitus celebris illius Sagami Membertou, quem antè diximus primū omnium Soricorum nostra sacra suscepisse.
We arrivedhere, as already noted, on the 22nd of May. Accordingly, we have now sojourned here a little more than seven months. During this period we have accomplished some work both at home and abroad. Our first efforts we expended at home, so that, as far as it lay in our power, there might be no interruption of Religious services. For the secular Priest who had preceded us here, immediately on our arrival, of his own free will and in accordance with a long-cherished desire, had returned to France. On Sundays and holydays we celebrate solemn mass and vespers; we preach and sometimes have processions, the boys of our children of the forest carrying before us, when they are present here, tapers and censers and other sacred utensils. For thus, little by little, they become accustomed to our ceremonies. Our procession was, however, a more solemn one on the day of Corpus Christi when we carried about the [27] blessed Sacrament. Sieur Potrincourt himself praised highly our efforts in this, as well as in adorning our chapel as much as we could, in spite of our great poverty. Since we have observed that those who had been previously baptized had gotten scarcely anything else through their baptism than increased peril, we have restrained this eager inclination to administer this sacrament without discrimination, and we insist that no adult person shall receive it until he has the necessary understanding of his faith and his profession. So, as we have thus far been ignorant of the language and have been unable to explain our doctrines throughany interpreter, or to commit them to writing, howsoever great a labor that may prove—and it will certainly prove a great one—the course of the Gospel is, up to this point, embarrassed by these shoals and quicksands. We try to persuade the savages to bring their babes to us for baptism; and this, withGod'sblessing, they are beginning to do. We have baptized two boys, and a girl about nine years old. This girl was wasting away as much from hunger and neglect as from sickness; for this people very readily despair [28] of relief in sickness, and, as previously stated, soon abandon those whose recovery is deemed hopeless. Thus, when this girl was given up by her relatives, we asked that she be given us for baptism. They very willingly gave her to us, not only for baptism but to dispose of at our pleasure as being, they said, no longer of more value than a dead dog. But we, to show them an example of Christian piety, carried her to a separate cabin and there fed her and cared for her; and, after teaching her as much as was necessary for one struggling with death, we cleansed her with the saving waters. On her death, nine days later, we entertained the glad hope that our labor had found some favor in heaven. We soon found opportunity for another deed of charity not dissimilar to this, though its result was more auspicious. This was in the case of the second son of that famous Chief Membertou, whom I have already mentioned as having received our doctrines first of all the Soriquois.
We arrivedhere, as already noted, on the 22nd of May. Accordingly, we have now sojourned here a little more than seven months. During this period we have accomplished some work both at home and abroad. Our first efforts we expended at home, so that, as far as it lay in our power, there might be no interruption of Religious services. For the secular Priest who had preceded us here, immediately on our arrival, of his own free will and in accordance with a long-cherished desire, had returned to France. On Sundays and holydays we celebrate solemn mass and vespers; we preach and sometimes have processions, the boys of our children of the forest carrying before us, when they are present here, tapers and censers and other sacred utensils. For thus, little by little, they become accustomed to our ceremonies. Our procession was, however, a more solemn one on the day of Corpus Christi when we carried about the [27] blessed Sacrament. Sieur Potrincourt himself praised highly our efforts in this, as well as in adorning our chapel as much as we could, in spite of our great poverty. Since we have observed that those who had been previously baptized had gotten scarcely anything else through their baptism than increased peril, we have restrained this eager inclination to administer this sacrament without discrimination, and we insist that no adult person shall receive it until he has the necessary understanding of his faith and his profession. So, as we have thus far been ignorant of the language and have been unable to explain our doctrines throughany interpreter, or to commit them to writing, howsoever great a labor that may prove—and it will certainly prove a great one—the course of the Gospel is, up to this point, embarrassed by these shoals and quicksands. We try to persuade the savages to bring their babes to us for baptism; and this, withGod'sblessing, they are beginning to do. We have baptized two boys, and a girl about nine years old. This girl was wasting away as much from hunger and neglect as from sickness; for this people very readily despair [28] of relief in sickness, and, as previously stated, soon abandon those whose recovery is deemed hopeless. Thus, when this girl was given up by her relatives, we asked that she be given us for baptism. They very willingly gave her to us, not only for baptism but to dispose of at our pleasure as being, they said, no longer of more value than a dead dog. But we, to show them an example of Christian piety, carried her to a separate cabin and there fed her and cared for her; and, after teaching her as much as was necessary for one struggling with death, we cleansed her with the saving waters. On her death, nine days later, we entertained the glad hope that our labor had found some favor in heaven. We soon found opportunity for another deed of charity not dissimilar to this, though its result was more auspicious. This was in the case of the second son of that famous Chief Membertou, whom I have already mentioned as having received our doctrines first of all the Soriquois.
94Huius ego filium extremo iam discrimine periclitantem inuisi: reperio pro more veteri de ipsius bonis tabagiam, hoc est epulum solemne, vt scilicet post epulas non sicut Iacob benediceret suis, [29] sed valediceret, ac deinde cōclamaretur, & cōclamato canes præmitterentur ad interitū. Increpaui ego, vt potui, per interpretē paganicos hos mores in iam Christianis. Benignè respōdit pater ipse Membertou neophytos se esse, verum imperarem; in mea potestate esse omnia. Negaui ego licitam esse illam occisionē canum, aut deplorati derelictionem; choreas, cantusvé funestos ægroto ipso inspectāte mihi non placere; ipsam alioqui tabagiam, & piam in extremis agētis consalutationem ac mandata permisi. Responderunt omnes sibi hoc satis esse, reliqua sese reiecturos. Cæterum D. Potrincurtij nomine ipsos inuitaui, vt ægrū in ipsius ædes deportarēt (aberat enim valde procul) sperare nos de misericordiaDeifore, vt conualescat, quò tandē intelligant falsas atqʒ impias esse, aut momorū suorū, hoc est fatidicorū denunciationes. Paruerunt illi, atqʒ ad nos depositum triduo pòst, hoc est semianimē detulerunt. Quid multa? Fecit dextera Dñi virtutem: non est mortuus, sed vixit; & nunc incolumis narrat opera [30] Dñi. Hoc exemplo commotus senior ipse Membertou cum eam invaletudinem sensisset, quæ postrema illi fuit, deportari ipse vltro, ad nos voluit, atqʒ adeò in nostrum ipsorum tuguriolū, & si placet, in lectum ipsum alterius nostrū. Ibi decumbentem quinqʒ dies prosecuti sumus omni96nō solum officio, sed etiam famulatu. At sexto die cùm iam vxor eius aduenisset, & cerneret ipsa vix alteri nostrū, quo miserè humi decubaret, locum esse in tuguriolo derelictū, aliò suapte sponte demigrauit, vbi & piam mortē obijt. Certè hunc reperimus (quippe Domini primitias ab hac gēte) præter cæteros mirabiliter solitū intrinsecus adeò moueri, multò vt ipse plus de nostra fide conciperet, quàm quantū potuisset auditione accipere. Itaqʒ solebat ipse crebrò dictitare, valde optare se, vt citò linguā nossemus. Continuò. n. postquam id perdidicisset, se futurū apud gentem suam cœlestis verbi ac doctrinæ prædicatorem. Dederat ipse in mādatis, vt antiquo in monumēto cū demortua prius familia (quā sciebā paganicè obijsse) [31] sepeliretur. Ego rē improbaui, veritus scilicet, ne vel Galli, vel etiā Gētiles hoc interpretarētur in fidei nostræ iniuriā. Sed ille hoc respōdebat: ita sibi promissū fuisse, antequā Christo nomen daret, fore, vt locus cōsecraretur, & exemplū proferebat ex anteactis non dissimile; alioqui. n. cōtrà se vereri, si nostro in cœmeterio humaretur, ne sui deinceps locū refugerent, atqʒ ita nunquā ad nos redirent. Opposui ego contrà, ̄q potui, & mecū is, quo ferè solo vtor interprete, D. Biencurtius, fili9D. Potrincurtij. Discessi mœstus: nihil. n. disputando profecerā. Extremā nihilominus vnctionem, ad quā paratus erat, non denegaui. Valuit vis Sacramēti: postridie D. Biencurtiū, mêqʒ magnopere aduocat, docet audiētibus omnib9mutatā sibi sententiā, velle se nobiscū humari, suísqʒ98̄pcipere, ne ideo locū refugiant ex veteri errore, quin poti9, è Christiani populi sapiētia magis ob eam ipsam caussam locū adament, frequenténtque; ad pias videlicet pro ipso preces effundēdas.
94Huius ego filium extremo iam discrimine periclitantem inuisi: reperio pro more veteri de ipsius bonis tabagiam, hoc est epulum solemne, vt scilicet post epulas non sicut Iacob benediceret suis, [29] sed valediceret, ac deinde cōclamaretur, & cōclamato canes præmitterentur ad interitū. Increpaui ego, vt potui, per interpretē paganicos hos mores in iam Christianis. Benignè respōdit pater ipse Membertou neophytos se esse, verum imperarem; in mea potestate esse omnia. Negaui ego licitam esse illam occisionē canum, aut deplorati derelictionem; choreas, cantusvé funestos ægroto ipso inspectāte mihi non placere; ipsam alioqui tabagiam, & piam in extremis agētis consalutationem ac mandata permisi. Responderunt omnes sibi hoc satis esse, reliqua sese reiecturos. Cæterum D. Potrincurtij nomine ipsos inuitaui, vt ægrū in ipsius ædes deportarēt (aberat enim valde procul) sperare nos de misericordiaDeifore, vt conualescat, quò tandē intelligant falsas atqʒ impias esse, aut momorū suorū, hoc est fatidicorū denunciationes. Paruerunt illi, atqʒ ad nos depositum triduo pòst, hoc est semianimē detulerunt. Quid multa? Fecit dextera Dñi virtutem: non est mortuus, sed vixit; & nunc incolumis narrat opera [30] Dñi. Hoc exemplo commotus senior ipse Membertou cum eam invaletudinem sensisset, quæ postrema illi fuit, deportari ipse vltro, ad nos voluit, atqʒ adeò in nostrum ipsorum tuguriolū, & si placet, in lectum ipsum alterius nostrū. Ibi decumbentem quinqʒ dies prosecuti sumus omni96nō solum officio, sed etiam famulatu. At sexto die cùm iam vxor eius aduenisset, & cerneret ipsa vix alteri nostrū, quo miserè humi decubaret, locum esse in tuguriolo derelictū, aliò suapte sponte demigrauit, vbi & piam mortē obijt. Certè hunc reperimus (quippe Domini primitias ab hac gēte) præter cæteros mirabiliter solitū intrinsecus adeò moueri, multò vt ipse plus de nostra fide conciperet, quàm quantū potuisset auditione accipere. Itaqʒ solebat ipse crebrò dictitare, valde optare se, vt citò linguā nossemus. Continuò. n. postquam id perdidicisset, se futurū apud gentem suam cœlestis verbi ac doctrinæ prædicatorem. Dederat ipse in mādatis, vt antiquo in monumēto cū demortua prius familia (quā sciebā paganicè obijsse) [31] sepeliretur. Ego rē improbaui, veritus scilicet, ne vel Galli, vel etiā Gētiles hoc interpretarētur in fidei nostræ iniuriā. Sed ille hoc respōdebat: ita sibi promissū fuisse, antequā Christo nomen daret, fore, vt locus cōsecraretur, & exemplū proferebat ex anteactis non dissimile; alioqui. n. cōtrà se vereri, si nostro in cœmeterio humaretur, ne sui deinceps locū refugerent, atqʒ ita nunquā ad nos redirent. Opposui ego contrà, ̄q potui, & mecū is, quo ferè solo vtor interprete, D. Biencurtius, fili9D. Potrincurtij. Discessi mœstus: nihil. n. disputando profecerā. Extremā nihilominus vnctionem, ad quā paratus erat, non denegaui. Valuit vis Sacramēti: postridie D. Biencurtiū, mêqʒ magnopere aduocat, docet audiētibus omnib9mutatā sibi sententiā, velle se nobiscū humari, suísqʒ98̄pcipere, ne ideo locū refugiant ex veteri errore, quin poti9, è Christiani populi sapiētia magis ob eam ipsam caussam locū adament, frequenténtque; ad pias videlicet pro ipso preces effundēdas.
I went to visit this chief's son, who was already at death's door. I found that, in accordance with their old custom, they were holding a tabagie, that is, a solemn feast for the distribution of his property, so that after the entertainment he might, not like Jacobgive them his blessing, [29] but might bid them farewell, after which they were to bewail his death and then to offer up a sacrifice of dogs. I rebuked as well as I could, through an interpreter, these pagan usages among a people who were already Christians. The father himself, Membertou, answered mildly that they were but neophytes; that I had but to command and that everything lay in my power. I said that this slaughtering of dogs was wrong, as well as this abandonment of the sick man for whom they were mourning; I added that these dances and death-songs, in the very presence of the sick man displeased me, though I permitted them to hold their tabagie elsewhere, as well as to visit the dying man and learn his last wishes. All replied that this was enough for them, and that they would dispense with the rest. Moreover, in the name of Sieur Potrincourt I invited them to transport to his house the sick man (who was at a very great distance), and said that we hoped, withGod'smercy, for his recovery, so that they might thus learn at last that the predictions of their medicine-men or prophets are false and impious. They obeyed, and the third day after brought to us the sufferer, whose life they had despaired of, in a half-dying condition. God's right hand exerted its power; he did not die, but lived, and now, completely recovered, relates what [30] God has done for him. Moved by this example, the elder Membertou himself, when he began to suffer from that sickness which was to be his last, desired of his own accord to be brought to us and to be received into our own cabin, and even, if it pleased us, to occupy one of our beds. He lay there five days, during which we performed every friendly and even every menial office. But on the sixth day,when his wife had also come, and when she saw that there was scarcely room left for one of us to find a wretched couch on the ground in our cabin, he, of his own accord, went elsewhere, and there died a pious death. We found, indeed, that this man (the first fruits of the Lord among this people) was, beyond all others, wont to be so wondrously moved within, that he apprehended much more of our faith than he could have learned from hearing us. Thus he used to say frequently that he ardently desired that we might soon know his language. He said that as soon as he had learned them thoroughly he would become the preacher of this heavenly word and doctrine among his people. He himself had commanded that he should be buried in the ancient burial-place of his family, with those who were already dead (who, I knew, had died as pagans). [31] I opposed this, fearing, of course, that the French and even the Gentiles might interpret this as an affront to our faith. But he answered that it had been promised him, before he gave himself to Christ, that this place should be consecrated; and he cited a past example of something of the sort, adding that he feared, on the contrary, that if he were buried in our cemetery his people might thenceforth avoid the place and thus never return to us. I opposed all the reasons I could, and so did Sieur de Biencourt, the son of Sieur de Potrincourt, he being almost my only interpreter. I went off sadly, for I had accomplished nothing by arguing. Nevertheless, I did not refuse him the extreme unction, for which he was prepared. The power of the Sacrament manifested itself; the next day he called eagerly for Sieur de Biencourt and myself, and told us in the hearing of all the others that he had changed his mind, and wished to be buried in our cemetery; andto teach his people that they should not avoid the place in accordance with their old and erroneous notion, but rather, with the wisdom of a Christian people, should love and frequent it, in order to utter pious prayers for him.
I went to visit this chief's son, who was already at death's door. I found that, in accordance with their old custom, they were holding a tabagie, that is, a solemn feast for the distribution of his property, so that after the entertainment he might, not like Jacobgive them his blessing, [29] but might bid them farewell, after which they were to bewail his death and then to offer up a sacrifice of dogs. I rebuked as well as I could, through an interpreter, these pagan usages among a people who were already Christians. The father himself, Membertou, answered mildly that they were but neophytes; that I had but to command and that everything lay in my power. I said that this slaughtering of dogs was wrong, as well as this abandonment of the sick man for whom they were mourning; I added that these dances and death-songs, in the very presence of the sick man displeased me, though I permitted them to hold their tabagie elsewhere, as well as to visit the dying man and learn his last wishes. All replied that this was enough for them, and that they would dispense with the rest. Moreover, in the name of Sieur Potrincourt I invited them to transport to his house the sick man (who was at a very great distance), and said that we hoped, withGod'smercy, for his recovery, so that they might thus learn at last that the predictions of their medicine-men or prophets are false and impious. They obeyed, and the third day after brought to us the sufferer, whose life they had despaired of, in a half-dying condition. God's right hand exerted its power; he did not die, but lived, and now, completely recovered, relates what [30] God has done for him. Moved by this example, the elder Membertou himself, when he began to suffer from that sickness which was to be his last, desired of his own accord to be brought to us and to be received into our own cabin, and even, if it pleased us, to occupy one of our beds. He lay there five days, during which we performed every friendly and even every menial office. But on the sixth day,when his wife had also come, and when she saw that there was scarcely room left for one of us to find a wretched couch on the ground in our cabin, he, of his own accord, went elsewhere, and there died a pious death. We found, indeed, that this man (the first fruits of the Lord among this people) was, beyond all others, wont to be so wondrously moved within, that he apprehended much more of our faith than he could have learned from hearing us. Thus he used to say frequently that he ardently desired that we might soon know his language. He said that as soon as he had learned them thoroughly he would become the preacher of this heavenly word and doctrine among his people. He himself had commanded that he should be buried in the ancient burial-place of his family, with those who were already dead (who, I knew, had died as pagans). [31] I opposed this, fearing, of course, that the French and even the Gentiles might interpret this as an affront to our faith. But he answered that it had been promised him, before he gave himself to Christ, that this place should be consecrated; and he cited a past example of something of the sort, adding that he feared, on the contrary, that if he were buried in our cemetery his people might thenceforth avoid the place and thus never return to us. I opposed all the reasons I could, and so did Sieur de Biencourt, the son of Sieur de Potrincourt, he being almost my only interpreter. I went off sadly, for I had accomplished nothing by arguing. Nevertheless, I did not refuse him the extreme unction, for which he was prepared. The power of the Sacrament manifested itself; the next day he called eagerly for Sieur de Biencourt and myself, and told us in the hearing of all the others that he had changed his mind, and wished to be buried in our cemetery; andto teach his people that they should not avoid the place in accordance with their old and erroneous notion, but rather, with the wisdom of a Christian people, should love and frequent it, in order to utter pious prayers for him.
Pacem deinde cum Nostris iterum, [32] iterúmque commendauit, méqʒ adeò præeunte ac manum regente, singulis suorum pio more benedixit: nec lōgè pòst extinctus est. Funus curatum magna ad exemplum pompâ. Et certè diu inter hos populos tantæ auctoritatis Sagamus nō fuit. Quo magis est mirum, quomodo in eo semper inuictus consilio perstiterit, etiam ante conuersionem, ne plures vnquam simul vxores habere vellet.
Pacem deinde cum Nostris iterum, [32] iterúmque commendauit, méqʒ adeò præeunte ac manum regente, singulis suorum pio more benedixit: nec lōgè pòst extinctus est. Funus curatum magna ad exemplum pompâ. Et certè diu inter hos populos tantæ auctoritatis Sagamus nō fuit. Quo magis est mirum, quomodo in eo semper inuictus consilio perstiterit, etiam ante conuersionem, ne plures vnquam simul vxores habere vellet.
Then he recommended to them again [32] and again to maintain peace with us, and also piously gave his blessing to certain of his people, I dictating the words and guiding his hand. A short time after, he died. We deemed it well to celebrate his funeral with great pomp. And certainly there has for a long time been no Chief of such great authority among these people. What is still more remarkable is that he always adhered firmly to his resolution never to have more than one wife at a time, even before his conversion.
Then he recommended to them again [32] and again to maintain peace with us, and also piously gave his blessing to certain of his people, I dictating the words and guiding his hand. A short time after, he died. We deemed it well to celebrate his funeral with great pomp. And certainly there has for a long time been no Chief of such great authority among these people. What is still more remarkable is that he always adhered firmly to his resolution never to have more than one wife at a time, even before his conversion.
Atque hæc domi gesta, nunc exeamus foras. Lustraui ego cum Domino Biencurtio magnam totius regionis partem, hoc est totum id, quod antiqui Norumbedam appellabant, flumina etiam ingressus sum præcipua. Fructus is extitit, vt & cognosceremus, & cognosceremur; ipsique siluatici, qui nunquam antea Sacerdotē, aut sacra nostra viderant, inceperint aliquid nostra de Religione apprehendere. Vbicumque ac quoties potuimus, infiniti pretij hostiam obtulimus OmnipotentiDeo, vt scilicet altari, tanquam sede sua posita, inciperet hoc sibi dominium seruator hominum vendicare; terrerētúrque ac fugarentur [33] vsurpatione sua laruales tyranni. Et astiterunt frequenter Barbari magno semper silentio ac reuerentiâ. Inuisebam postea ipsorum casulas, orabam, ægris manus imponebam, cruciculasæneasaut imagunculas donabam,100ipsisqʒ de collo suspendebam, & quæ poteram diuina insinuabam. Excipiebant illi omnia perlibenter, signúmque Crucis me ducente conformabant, feréqʒ omnes pueri etiam me longè prosequebantur, vt ipsum sæpius iterarent. Semel contigit, vt quem ægrotum altero antè die inuiseram, propemodúmque depositum audieram, pòst cernerē vegetum, hilarémque, cruce sua gloriantem, & mihi vultu manúque gratulantem, vt suspicio magna sit, non solùm opem crucis sensisse, verum etiam agnouisse. Si quando in Gallicas naues incidebamus, vt sæpe incidimus, monita salutaria dabantur pro loci & temporis opportunitate: interdum etiam vectores expiabantur. Semel maxima quædam complurium mala, & animorum fortunarúmque labes auersa est perDeigratiam: semel item [34] exitium certissimum, cædésque non paucorum. Reconciliatus quoque magni quidam Iuuenis & animi & spei. Is quòd sibi à D. Potrincurtio timeret, annum iam vnum cum Siluicolis eorum more atque vestitu pererrabat: & suspicio erat peioris quoque rei. Obtulit eum mihiDevs, colloquor, denique post multa Iuuenis sese mihi credit, deduco eum ad D. Potrincurtium, non pœnituit fidei datæ, pax facta est maximo omnium gaudio, & Iuuenis postridie, antequam ad sacram Eucharistiam accederet, suapte ipse sponte à circumstātibus mali exempli veniam petijt. Iam verò vti superuacaneum est de nauigantibus dicere, quòd multa pericula mirabiliter euaserint; ita & de hîc commorantibus, quòd multa102sustineant. Quod aqua bibatur, nulla querela est: siquidem cœpit iam nobis ante sex hebdomadas ita panis deficere, vt nunc detur in hebdomadam, quod antè dabatur in vnum diem. Nauim expectamus subsidio venturam. Interim Pistores ac Fabri magno scilicet nomine atque antiquo viuimus, & [35] incidimus quibus vterque in grauem ægritudinem, sed Dominus supposuit manū suam. Nam neque id diu fuit, & semper altero decumbente, alter stetit. Experimur sanè, quantum sit onus vitæ necessitas, dum lignatum, dum aquatum imus, dum coquimus ipsi nobis, dum indumenta aut lauamus, aut reficimus, dum sarcimus tugurioli labes, dum in reliqua corporis cura necessariò detinemur. Inter hæc dies nobis, miserè, noctésque depereunt; illa nos spes consolatur ac sustentat, fore, vt qui subleuat abiectosDevs, vilitatem ipse nostram pro sua quandoque misericordia non despiciat. Quamquā certè dum in subsidiorum inopiam, dum in asperitatem regionis & gentis mores, dum in difficultates rerum, & coloniæ constituendæ, dum in mille pericula obicésqʒ vel maris vel hominum intendimus, somnium & idea Platonica videtur quod conamur. Demonstrarem hoc sigillatim, nisi hoc esset cum Hebræis exploratoribus magis pro humanis viribus, quàm pro diuino auxilio, nec minus ex [36] animi languore, quàm ex rei veritate dicere: Terra hæc deuorat habitatores suos; nos locustæ sumus, cùm hic monstra sint de genere Giganteo. Sed enim tamen, quanticunque sint hi Gigantes, præualebit104ille Dauid in funda & lapide, qui conculcat terram in fremitu suo, & in furore obstupefacit gentes; illeIesvshominum Seruator, qui benefacit terram & perficit eam, quantumcunque infirmata sit; ille verò, ille, vti speramus, benignitatis ac potentiæ suæ ducet esse, vt quod vaticinatus est Isaias,Exultet solitudo & floreat sicut lilium: quemadmodum sapientiæ paritérqʒ potentiæ suæ reputauit id, quod cernimus, vt cultissima imperia, atque omnibus elata viribus, & gloriâ; suæ cruci atque humilitati subiugarentur. Amen ita sit. Atque hoc nostrum votum adiuuent comprecatione sua cœlites omnes, atque in primis cœlitum Regina & præses; adiuuet Ecclesia vniuersa, speciatímque Ecclesiæ pars illa, cui Paternitas vestra nutu diuino iam diu præest, Societas, votum meum; adiuuet oro atque obsecro [37] Paternitas vestra omni ope, suámque nobis ad id benedictionem pijssimam, si placet, largiatur. E portu Regali in noua Francia vltimo die Ianuarij AnniCIↃ.IↃC.XI.Vestræ Paternitatis filius ac seruus indignusPetrvs Biardvs.NOTES:[IV.]Sic.pro Kinibequi.
Atque hæc domi gesta, nunc exeamus foras. Lustraui ego cum Domino Biencurtio magnam totius regionis partem, hoc est totum id, quod antiqui Norumbedam appellabant, flumina etiam ingressus sum præcipua. Fructus is extitit, vt & cognosceremus, & cognosceremur; ipsique siluatici, qui nunquam antea Sacerdotē, aut sacra nostra viderant, inceperint aliquid nostra de Religione apprehendere. Vbicumque ac quoties potuimus, infiniti pretij hostiam obtulimus OmnipotentiDeo, vt scilicet altari, tanquam sede sua posita, inciperet hoc sibi dominium seruator hominum vendicare; terrerētúrque ac fugarentur [33] vsurpatione sua laruales tyranni. Et astiterunt frequenter Barbari magno semper silentio ac reuerentiâ. Inuisebam postea ipsorum casulas, orabam, ægris manus imponebam, cruciculasæneasaut imagunculas donabam,100ipsisqʒ de collo suspendebam, & quæ poteram diuina insinuabam. Excipiebant illi omnia perlibenter, signúmque Crucis me ducente conformabant, feréqʒ omnes pueri etiam me longè prosequebantur, vt ipsum sæpius iterarent. Semel contigit, vt quem ægrotum altero antè die inuiseram, propemodúmque depositum audieram, pòst cernerē vegetum, hilarémque, cruce sua gloriantem, & mihi vultu manúque gratulantem, vt suspicio magna sit, non solùm opem crucis sensisse, verum etiam agnouisse. Si quando in Gallicas naues incidebamus, vt sæpe incidimus, monita salutaria dabantur pro loci & temporis opportunitate: interdum etiam vectores expiabantur. Semel maxima quædam complurium mala, & animorum fortunarúmque labes auersa est perDeigratiam: semel item [34] exitium certissimum, cædésque non paucorum. Reconciliatus quoque magni quidam Iuuenis & animi & spei. Is quòd sibi à D. Potrincurtio timeret, annum iam vnum cum Siluicolis eorum more atque vestitu pererrabat: & suspicio erat peioris quoque rei. Obtulit eum mihiDevs, colloquor, denique post multa Iuuenis sese mihi credit, deduco eum ad D. Potrincurtium, non pœnituit fidei datæ, pax facta est maximo omnium gaudio, & Iuuenis postridie, antequam ad sacram Eucharistiam accederet, suapte ipse sponte à circumstātibus mali exempli veniam petijt. Iam verò vti superuacaneum est de nauigantibus dicere, quòd multa pericula mirabiliter euaserint; ita & de hîc commorantibus, quòd multa102sustineant. Quod aqua bibatur, nulla querela est: siquidem cœpit iam nobis ante sex hebdomadas ita panis deficere, vt nunc detur in hebdomadam, quod antè dabatur in vnum diem. Nauim expectamus subsidio venturam. Interim Pistores ac Fabri magno scilicet nomine atque antiquo viuimus, & [35] incidimus quibus vterque in grauem ægritudinem, sed Dominus supposuit manū suam. Nam neque id diu fuit, & semper altero decumbente, alter stetit. Experimur sanè, quantum sit onus vitæ necessitas, dum lignatum, dum aquatum imus, dum coquimus ipsi nobis, dum indumenta aut lauamus, aut reficimus, dum sarcimus tugurioli labes, dum in reliqua corporis cura necessariò detinemur. Inter hæc dies nobis, miserè, noctésque depereunt; illa nos spes consolatur ac sustentat, fore, vt qui subleuat abiectosDevs, vilitatem ipse nostram pro sua quandoque misericordia non despiciat. Quamquā certè dum in subsidiorum inopiam, dum in asperitatem regionis & gentis mores, dum in difficultates rerum, & coloniæ constituendæ, dum in mille pericula obicésqʒ vel maris vel hominum intendimus, somnium & idea Platonica videtur quod conamur. Demonstrarem hoc sigillatim, nisi hoc esset cum Hebræis exploratoribus magis pro humanis viribus, quàm pro diuino auxilio, nec minus ex [36] animi languore, quàm ex rei veritate dicere: Terra hæc deuorat habitatores suos; nos locustæ sumus, cùm hic monstra sint de genere Giganteo. Sed enim tamen, quanticunque sint hi Gigantes, præualebit104ille Dauid in funda & lapide, qui conculcat terram in fremitu suo, & in furore obstupefacit gentes; illeIesvshominum Seruator, qui benefacit terram & perficit eam, quantumcunque infirmata sit; ille verò, ille, vti speramus, benignitatis ac potentiæ suæ ducet esse, vt quod vaticinatus est Isaias,Exultet solitudo & floreat sicut lilium: quemadmodum sapientiæ paritérqʒ potentiæ suæ reputauit id, quod cernimus, vt cultissima imperia, atque omnibus elata viribus, & gloriâ; suæ cruci atque humilitati subiugarentur. Amen ita sit. Atque hoc nostrum votum adiuuent comprecatione sua cœlites omnes, atque in primis cœlitum Regina & præses; adiuuet Ecclesia vniuersa, speciatímque Ecclesiæ pars illa, cui Paternitas vestra nutu diuino iam diu præest, Societas, votum meum; adiuuet oro atque obsecro [37] Paternitas vestra omni ope, suámque nobis ad id benedictionem pijssimam, si placet, largiatur. E portu Regali in noua Francia vltimo die Ianuarij AnniCIↃ.IↃC.XI.
Vestræ Paternitatis filius ac seruus indignus
Petrvs Biardvs.
NOTES:[IV.]Sic.pro Kinibequi.
[IV.]Sic.pro Kinibequi.
[IV.]Sic.pro Kinibequi.
Such are the things achieved at home; let us now consider what has been done elsewhere. I have explored with Sieur Biencourt a large part of this whole region—all that portion, namely, which the old geographers called Norumbega, including the principal rivers. The result is that not only have we come to know the country, but also to be known ourselves, and the savages, who had never before seen a Priest or the rites of our Religion, have begun to learn something concerning it. Wherever and whenever we could do so, we offered the priceless host to the OmnipotentGod, so that the altar might be as a seat dedicated to the savior of men, whence he should begin to extend his dominion among this people, while their own hobgoblin tyrants are stricken with terror and driven [33] from their usurpation. The Savages have often been present, always profoundly silent and reverent. Afterwards I would visit their huts to pray and to lay hands on the sick; I gavethem little crosses of brass, or images, which I hung about their necks, and as far as possible I infused some religious notions into their minds. They received all these things very gladly, they made the sign of the Cross under my guidance, and nearly all the boys followed me a long distance in order to repeat it oftener. Once it happened that a savage whom I had visited a couple of days before, finding him sick and almost given up by his friends, as I heard, met me rejoicing and well, and glorying in his cross, manifesting his gratitude toward me with hands and countenance, so that I strongly suspected that he had not only experienced the help of the cross but even recognized it. Whenever we fell in with French vessels—and this often happened—salutary counsels were given to the men, in accordance with time and place; sometimes, too, the passengers made their confession. Sometimes calamities that threatened the welfare and fortune of many were averted through the grace ofGod; sometimes, too, [34] certain destruction and the slaughter of no small number. We have also succeeded in reclaiming a certain Young Man13of great courage and hope who, through fear of Sieur de Potrincourt, has roamed about for a whole year with the Savages, adopting their ways and dress—not without suspicion, too, of something worse. TheLordbrought about a meeting between us. I spoke with him, and at last he confided himself to me. I brought him to Sieur de Potrincourt; he did not repent of having placed faith in me; peace was made, to the great joy of all, and next day the young man, before receiving the holy Eucharist, of his own free will begged the pardon of those who surrounded him, for his evil conduct. But as it would be superfluous to speak of the manyperils so miraculously escaped by our vessels, so would it be to speak of the many sufferings of those who sojourn here. We make no complaint of having to drink water; as for bread, in less than six weeks the supply ran so short that now no more is allowed for a week than formerly for a single day. We are awaiting a ship that is to bring supplies. In the meantime, as Bakers and Artisans, a great and ancient quality withal, [35] we continue living here, but we have each fallen seriously ill; however, the Lord sustained us with his hand. For this did not last long, and whenever one of us was sick the other was well. We feel, indeed, how great a burden it is to attend to all these household duties, in going for wood and water, in cooking, in washing and mending our clothes, in repairing our cabin, and in giving the necessary time and attention to other material cares. Thus our days and nights wretchedly slip away; but the hope consoles and sustains us thatGod, who raises up those who are cast down, will some time in his mercy not despise our unworthiness. Though, certainly, when we consider our lack of resources, the trying nature of the country, and the manners of the natives, the difficulties incident to our undertaking and those incident to the establishing of a colony, the thousand perils and impediments interposed by the sea or by our fellow men, our enterprise seems but a dream and a Platonic idea. I might set forth all these things one by one, if this were not to imitate the Hebrew explorers, and rather with regard to our human strength than to God's help, and no less through the [36] faintness of our own hearts than in accordance with the truth of things, to say: "This land devours its inhabitants; we are locusts, while there are here monsters of the race of Giants." But yet, howevergreat these Giants be, that David with the sling and stone shall prevail against them, even he who tramples the earth under foot in his anger, and in his rage strikes terror into the senses of men; thatJesus, the Savior of mankind, who blesses the world and leads it toward perfection in spite of all its shortcomings; he, even he, as we hope, will deem it a thing worthy of his love and his power that, as Isaiah prophesied,The solitude should exult and blossom like a lily; even as he deemed it good in his wisdom and his power that, as we see, the most civilized empires in the height of power and glory should receive the yoke of his cross and his humility. Amen, so be it. And may all heaven with its prayers further this, our hope, and above all the glorious Queen of heaven; and my own prayers be aided, too, by the universal Church and especially by that portion of the Church over which, in accordance with God's will, your Reverence has so long presided—the Society; and I also pray and beseech [37] your Reverence to further it with all possible aid, and to be pleased to bestow on us toward this end in all charity your benediction. From port Royal, in new France, the last day of January, 1611.The son and unworthy servant of Your ReverencePierre Biard.FOOTNOTES:[III.]Sic.for Kinibequi.—[O'Callaghan.]
Such are the things achieved at home; let us now consider what has been done elsewhere. I have explored with Sieur Biencourt a large part of this whole region—all that portion, namely, which the old geographers called Norumbega, including the principal rivers. The result is that not only have we come to know the country, but also to be known ourselves, and the savages, who had never before seen a Priest or the rites of our Religion, have begun to learn something concerning it. Wherever and whenever we could do so, we offered the priceless host to the OmnipotentGod, so that the altar might be as a seat dedicated to the savior of men, whence he should begin to extend his dominion among this people, while their own hobgoblin tyrants are stricken with terror and driven [33] from their usurpation. The Savages have often been present, always profoundly silent and reverent. Afterwards I would visit their huts to pray and to lay hands on the sick; I gavethem little crosses of brass, or images, which I hung about their necks, and as far as possible I infused some religious notions into their minds. They received all these things very gladly, they made the sign of the Cross under my guidance, and nearly all the boys followed me a long distance in order to repeat it oftener. Once it happened that a savage whom I had visited a couple of days before, finding him sick and almost given up by his friends, as I heard, met me rejoicing and well, and glorying in his cross, manifesting his gratitude toward me with hands and countenance, so that I strongly suspected that he had not only experienced the help of the cross but even recognized it. Whenever we fell in with French vessels—and this often happened—salutary counsels were given to the men, in accordance with time and place; sometimes, too, the passengers made their confession. Sometimes calamities that threatened the welfare and fortune of many were averted through the grace ofGod; sometimes, too, [34] certain destruction and the slaughter of no small number. We have also succeeded in reclaiming a certain Young Man13of great courage and hope who, through fear of Sieur de Potrincourt, has roamed about for a whole year with the Savages, adopting their ways and dress—not without suspicion, too, of something worse. TheLordbrought about a meeting between us. I spoke with him, and at last he confided himself to me. I brought him to Sieur de Potrincourt; he did not repent of having placed faith in me; peace was made, to the great joy of all, and next day the young man, before receiving the holy Eucharist, of his own free will begged the pardon of those who surrounded him, for his evil conduct. But as it would be superfluous to speak of the manyperils so miraculously escaped by our vessels, so would it be to speak of the many sufferings of those who sojourn here. We make no complaint of having to drink water; as for bread, in less than six weeks the supply ran so short that now no more is allowed for a week than formerly for a single day. We are awaiting a ship that is to bring supplies. In the meantime, as Bakers and Artisans, a great and ancient quality withal, [35] we continue living here, but we have each fallen seriously ill; however, the Lord sustained us with his hand. For this did not last long, and whenever one of us was sick the other was well. We feel, indeed, how great a burden it is to attend to all these household duties, in going for wood and water, in cooking, in washing and mending our clothes, in repairing our cabin, and in giving the necessary time and attention to other material cares. Thus our days and nights wretchedly slip away; but the hope consoles and sustains us thatGod, who raises up those who are cast down, will some time in his mercy not despise our unworthiness. Though, certainly, when we consider our lack of resources, the trying nature of the country, and the manners of the natives, the difficulties incident to our undertaking and those incident to the establishing of a colony, the thousand perils and impediments interposed by the sea or by our fellow men, our enterprise seems but a dream and a Platonic idea. I might set forth all these things one by one, if this were not to imitate the Hebrew explorers, and rather with regard to our human strength than to God's help, and no less through the [36] faintness of our own hearts than in accordance with the truth of things, to say: "This land devours its inhabitants; we are locusts, while there are here monsters of the race of Giants." But yet, howevergreat these Giants be, that David with the sling and stone shall prevail against them, even he who tramples the earth under foot in his anger, and in his rage strikes terror into the senses of men; thatJesus, the Savior of mankind, who blesses the world and leads it toward perfection in spite of all its shortcomings; he, even he, as we hope, will deem it a thing worthy of his love and his power that, as Isaiah prophesied,The solitude should exult and blossom like a lily; even as he deemed it good in his wisdom and his power that, as we see, the most civilized empires in the height of power and glory should receive the yoke of his cross and his humility. Amen, so be it. And may all heaven with its prayers further this, our hope, and above all the glorious Queen of heaven; and my own prayers be aided, too, by the universal Church and especially by that portion of the Church over which, in accordance with God's will, your Reverence has so long presided—the Society; and I also pray and beseech [37] your Reverence to further it with all possible aid, and to be pleased to bestow on us toward this end in all charity your benediction. From port Royal, in new France, the last day of January, 1611.
The son and unworthy servant of Your Reverence
Pierre Biard.
FOOTNOTES:[III.]Sic.for Kinibequi.—[O'Callaghan.]
[III.]Sic.for Kinibequi.—[O'Callaghan.]
[III.]Sic.for Kinibequi.—[O'Callaghan.]